Jul 31, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Wisconsin man commits voter fraud to "expose" system "vulnerabilities"

Claire Woodall-Vogg, executive director of the Milwaukee election commission, collects the count from absentee ballots from a voting machine on November 04, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

A Wisconsin man admitted to committing voter fraud in an effort to "expose the vulnerabilities" in the state's voting system, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.

Driving the news: Harry Wait used Wisconsin's online voter portal to request absentee ballots for the speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly, the mayor of Racine County and 10 other individuals, WPR reported.

  • Wait, who runs a Wisconsin group that espouses disproven claims of election fraud, said he never received the ballots, per WPR.
  • He then contacted Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling and informed him of what he had done.

What they're saying: While some members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission have called on Wait to be charged with a crime, Schmaling refused to take action upon learning about Wait's actions, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

  • Instead, Schmaling called on the commissioners to remove a feature from their website that helps voters request absentee ballots, the Journal Sentinel reported.
  • Schmaling previously campaigned for former President Donald Trump and espoused claims of voter fraud, per the Journal Sentinel.
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