Overview
- Harry Wait was found guilty Tuesday of two misdemeanor election-fraud counts and one felony identity-theft count, with jurors acquitting him on a second identity-theft charge.
- Prosecutors said Wait used Wisconsin’s MyVote website in 2022 to order absentee ballots in the names of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason to be sent to his home, which he claimed was a security test.
- One clerk flagged the Vos request and stopped it, while another mailed Mason’s ballot, which Wait returned unopened, and election officials said tracking and voter inquiries help catch such unauthorized requests.
- Wait, 71, faces up to six years in prison on the felony and up to one year on each misdemeanor, and the felony conviction blocks him from voting until any sentence is completed.
- A sentencing date has not been set, his lawyer says he will appeal, and the case follows similar prosecutions in Wisconsin such as the 2024 conviction of Milwaukee official Kimberly Zapata for creating fake military ballot requests.