Trial to begin for Milwaukee election official accused of requesting mail-in ballots for fake military members

A poll worker enters absentee ballots at the Madison Public Library, Nov. 8, 2022 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Jim Vondruska/Getty Images, FILE
March 18, 2024, 5:01 AM

The trial for a former Wisconsin election official who allegedly requested mail-in ballots for three nonexistent military voters is scheduled to begin on Monday in a Milwaukee court.

Kimberly D. Zapata, 47, who served as deputy director of the City of Milwaukee Election Commission, was charged in November 2022 with three misdemeanor counts of election fraud and one count of felony misconduct in public office, according to officials and a criminal complaint.

She pleaded not guilty in December 2022, according to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court’s docket. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday.

Zapata allegedly used Wisconsin’s online voter-registration portal, MyVote, to request the ballots, prosecutors said in a complaint filed in November 2022. Investigators said she later admitted in an interview to filing the requests.

“Zapata admitted that she was attempting to highlight flaws within the absentee system,” investigators said, according to the criminal complaint. “She stated that attempting to highlight the flaws within the system is an attempt to maintain election integrity, which is part of her job.”

Approved – Obey

GringoViejo

Article URL : https://abcnews.go.com/US/trial-begin-milwaukee-election-official-accused-requesting-mail/story?id=94031943&fbclid=IwAR3JOxDK546ti1gHuIzWMX7lYU_JWV3bWx0Cf7O8gviuDbL6L-CAL5K46WQ