Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R-WI) — the Republican chair of the Wisconsin Assembly’s elections committee — along with a veterans group and two others have filed a lawsuit to temporarily halt counting military ballots in Wisconsin until their authenticity can be verified.
Rep. Brandtjen — who has been a promoter of the Big Lie — said she decided to file the lawsuit after receiving three military ballots that she didn’t request. The ballots were sent to her home and were addressed to “Holly” with three different last names.
The lawsuit comes days after Kimberly Zapata, a Wisconsin election official, was charged with voter fraud trying to prove it was possible to engage in voter fraud due to weaknesses in the state’s voting system.
The three ballots Brandtjen received were part of Zapata’s stunt, the Washington Post reported.
“I believe someone was trying to point out how easy it is to get military ballots in Wisconsin,” said Brandtjen in a statement. “Registration for military ballots is not required, so a fictitious name and birthdate is all that is required to obtain a military ballot online.”
Zapata — deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission — was fired last week. She is now facing charges of felony misconduct in office and three misdemeanor counts of election fraud.
So far, the Court has not taken any action on Brandtjen’s lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in Waukesha County Circuit Court.
Military ballots make up a very tiny fraction of the state’s votes. On average, they’re about 0.07% of all absentee ballots requested, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. And as of Thursday, 2,747 military ballots had been requested in Wisconsin for the midterm elections, according to the AP.
