Milwaukee Election Commission Deputy Director Fired for Alleged Election Fraud

On Thursday, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced that the city’s Election Commission Deputy Director Kimberly Zapata has been fired for election fraud.

Johnson said that Zapata fraudulently requested military absentee ballots, which she then sent to Republican state lawmaker Rep. Janel Brandtjen, according to Fox 6.

Military service members are not required to register or show an ID in order to obtain a ballot.

According to Fox 6, the city believes that Zapata was attempting to prove a loophole in the elections process.

“This has every appearance of being an egregious and blatant violation of trust,” Mayor Johnson said during a press conference. 

“I will not accept, I will not tolerate, and I certainly will not defend any misrepresentation by a city official involved in elections. It does not matter to me that this might have been an effort to expose a vulnerability that state law created. It does not matter to me that the alleged crime did not take place at work. It does not matter to me that the City of Milwaukee ballots were not a part of this. Nor does it matter that there was no attempt to vote illegally or tamper with any election results.”

Johnson also revealed that immediately upon learning of this matter, her access to the office was revoked, and her computer systems were deactivated.

He added that the city is looking into other possible cases of misdeeds.

A city official revealed that Zapata had worked for the city for 10 years, and was part of the election commission for seven years.

This move comes less than one week before the midterm election.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.