by Benjamin Yount
A Racine County man says he committed voter fraud to prove a point about voter fraud in Wisconsin.
Harry Wait, a member of the group Honest, Open, and Transparent Government, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he ordered ballots for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason through the state’s online voting system.
“First I put in the name Robin Vos, clicked his address and hit ‘absentee,’ then I selected a new address and successfully ordered it,” Wait explained.
Wait says he called Racine County’s sheriff and informed him of the move.
Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, said Wait showed how vulnerable Wisconsin’s absentee ballot system is.
“With nothing but a name and birthdate, the ballots could be sent anywhere. H.O.T. Government immediately turned themselves into the Racine County Sheriff’s Department. WEC has created an unsecure, online system of ballot distribution that must now be shut down,” Brandtjen explained.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission called an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon to answer questions about the case.
“There is no indication of any vulnerability with the MyVote application. The idea that absentee ballot requests made online, via MyVote, are more susceptible to fraud is false,” the Commission said in a statement.
“The MyVote web application requires a person to provide the same information he or she would provide if the person made the ballot request through traditional mail or email,” the Commission’s statement continues. “MyVote does not make it any easier to commit voter fraud than requesting a ballot through other methods. Requesting or attempting to vote an absentee ballot in the name of another person has long been and continues to be a crime.”
Elections Commission member Ann Jacobs said Wait needs to be held accountable.
“People who think it’s cute to commit a crime to undermine elections, that needs to be stopped and it needs to be stopped now and waiting implies there’s something appropriate about it,” Jacobs said.
The Elections Commission will hold another meeting next week to possibly ask for charges against Wait.
– – –
Benjamin Yount is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Election Day” by Phil Roeder. CC BY 2.0.
