Man Commits Voter Fraud Trying to Prove Wisconsin's Election System is Vulnerable

Monday, August 1st, 2022 -- 9:00 AM

(AP) Harry Wait was so determined to show Wisconsin’s election system is vulnerable to fraud that he logged onto the state website, requested an absentee ballot in the state Assembly speaker’s name and had it delivered to himself.

Then he ran to a sheriff to tell him that he had committed fraud. Now Wait faces the possibility of criminal charges in a strange new chapter in a chaotic, seemingly endless fight over election administration in the key battleground state.

The fight began after Joe Biden won the state in 2020, defeating former President Donald Trump by nearly 21,000 votes. Trump has refused to accept the loss, insisting the election was marred by fraud.

Multiple reviews and court decisions have upheld Biden’s victory, but Trump’s supporters have spent the months since promoting his baseless claims that Biden somehow stole the election. Wait is the president of the Racine-based group HOT Government, which has alleged fraud in the 2020 election.

He told The Associated Press that he visited the state’s election website and ordered what he says were 10 absentee ballots in the names of other people, including Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason, and had them delivered to his own address.

He quickly contacted Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling and told him all about it, saying he had proven the state’s system is vulnerable to fraud. Wait wasn’t alone. Adrianne Melby, of Burlington, told the AP that she decided to see if she could get an absentee ballot sent to a different address.

She had a friend visit the website, order a ballot in Melby’s name and have it sent to the friend’s address. Melby told Schmaling what she had done as well. Wisconsin law prohibits people from making false statements to obtain an absentee ballot and from impersonating a voter.

Penalties can include fines of up to $10,000 and three-and-a-half years in prison. Wait and Melby told the AP that Schmaling promised he wouldn’t arrest them or refer charges.

The state Election Commission, made up of three Democrats and three Republicans, held an emergency meeting on Thursday night to address Wait’s and Melby’s activities.

Administrator Meagan Wolfe told commissioners that the website is no more vulnerable to fraud than a traditional mail request for an absentee ballot. She also stressed that the state’s voter registration database would flag anyone who tried to vote using another person’s absentee ballot.

The commissioners ultimately voted to discuss referring charges to prosecutors at a future meeting, perhaps as early as next week. The commission also decided to send postcards to about 4,000 voters who requested their absentee ballots for the 2022 election be sent to addresses that aren’t their own, in order to verify their intent.

Spokesman Riley Vetterkind said that’s not an indication of fraud, as voters often ask to have ballots sent to vacation homes or other places they stay.

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