Waukesha County sheriff investigates who requested absentee ballots for military members and had them sent to lawmaker Janel Brandtjen
MADISON – The Waukesha County Sheriff's Department is investigating who requested absentee ballots on behalf of members of the military and had them sent to the home of a Republican state lawmaker who suggested Monday someone copied the actions of a Racine County man who believes voter fraud robbed Donald Trump of a victory in 2020 and wanted to prove election fraud is possible.
Assembly Elections Committee chairwoman Janel Brandtjen said Monday she contacted law enforcement and former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who oversaw a partisan review of the 2020 election, after she received three ballots from clerks in Menomonee Falls, where Brandtjen lives, South Milwaukee and Shorewood to three different women with the first name Holly.
"None of these individuals reside, or have resided at her address, and the Representative did not request the ballots. After Rep. Brandtjen made inquiries, she realized these three 'Hollys' probably don’t exist. If they did, why would they send ballots to her house?" aides to Brandtjen wrote in a press release on the matter.
“I believe someone was trying to point out how easy it is to get military ballots in Wisconsin,” Brandtjen said in a statement. “Feeling shocked about this situation is an understatement because it demonstrates stolen valor from those who protect this nation. I think it’s sad that people feel they have to break the law to get the attention of the legislature. This is now the second time citizens have tried to point out loopholes in our elections."
The sheriff's department is working with the Waukesha County District Attorney to investigate, the department said Monday.
"We are still gathering the WEC data regarding Rep. Brandtjen’s concerns that she outlined in her recent press release. We plan to work with our law enforcement partners as appropriate to address the allegations," Wisconsin Elections Commission spokesman Riley Vetterkind said in a statement.
Brandtjen is characterizing the episode as an effort to expose loopholes in election law, comparing it to crimes committed by Harry Wait, a leader of a Racine County-based group known as H.O.T. Government that promotes false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Wait was charged earlier this year with two counts of election fraud and two counts of unauthorized use of an individual's personal identifying information for posing as Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason to request their ballots in order to show violations of the law are possible.
Before his first court appearance in the matter in September, Wait compared himself to founding fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
"My actions are in the spirit of organic law of this nation, upon which was founded taking action in civil disobedience," he told reporters in a press conference. "I have acted in a similar manner as the founder of this nation acted. For that reason, I am certain my actions are indeed both lawful and under organic law of the nation."
On Monday, a post in Wait's group's social media channel called Brandtjen a "patriot" for highlighting what the group calls problems with the state's system to request absentee ballots. To change the process for military members would require lawmakers to take action. Under state law, military members are exempt from registering to vote or to provide photo identification.
As chairwoman of the elections committee, Brandtjen has repeatedly held hearings promoting false claims of voter fraud and 2020 election conspiracy theories.
"If another Republican has committed election fraud, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I hope whoever did this is caught so we can send a clear message that this will not be tolerated," Democratic state Rep. Mark Spreitzer of Beloit, a member of the Assembly elections committee, said in a statement. "For obvious reasons, military voters need to be able to vote absentee, and we should not tolerate anyone who wants to make our service members pawns for their political agenda."
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Investigation launched into absentee ballots sent to home of lawmaker
