Jury finds former Milwaukee election official guilty of obtaining fake absentee ballots

A jury has found a former Milwaukee election official accused of obtaining fake absentee ballots guilty of misconduct in office and fraud. The jury returned guilty verdicts Wednesday on all four counts. Prosecutors charged Kimberly Zapata in November 2022 with one felony misconduct count and three misdemeanor counts of election fraud. A criminal complaint says Zapata was deputy director at the Milwaukee Election Commission in October 2022 when she obtained three military absentee ballots using fake names and Social Security numbers. She sent the ballots to Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, an election conspiracy theorist. Zapata said she wanted to expose real flaws in the state elections system. She faces up to five years behind bars.