The Republican chairman of the Wisconsin Assembly Elections Committee, along with a group of veterans and other constituents, have filed a lawsuit seeking a court order requiring the seizure of military absentee ballots in the field state of battle
State Rep. Janel Brandtjen’s lawsuit, filed Friday in Waukesha County Circuit Court, comes after a top Milwaukee County election official was accused of fraudulently applying for three military ballots under false names and having them sent to Brandtjen as a way to expose vulnerabilities in the Wisconsin election. Kimberly Zapata, deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, was fired last week and now faces felony charges of misconduct in office and three misdemeanor counts of voter fraud.
The lawsuit seeks a temporary order requiring Wisconsin election officials to set aside military ballots so they can be verified for authenticity. The court had not taken any action on the lawsuit as of Monday morning, with less than 36 hours before the polls closed on Tuesday.
Military ballots comprise a small fraction of all ballots cast in the state. On average, they account for about 0.07 percent of all absentee ballots requested, according to the Wisconsin Election Commission. In the 2018 election, 2,700 military ballots were requested and as of Thursday, 2,747 military ballots had been requested for the current election.
In Wisconsin, military voters are not required to register to vote, meaning they do not need to provide photo ID to request an absentee ballot.