Judge Dismisses Rep. Brandtjen’s Military Ballot Lawsuit

Kimberly Zapata (left, image from Milwaukee County) and military ballots (right, image from Rep. Brandtjen).

A Waukesha County judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by state Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls) and a Waukesha County veterans group on Friday, saying the lawsuit should have named an elections official as the defendant instead of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Brandtjen, who is one of the most outspoken 2020 election deniers in the Legislature, and the Concerned Veterans of Waukesha County brought the suit against the WEC in November in a last-minute effort to halt the counting of absentee military ballots.

The case came in reaction to a Milwaukee elections official, Kimberly Zapata, requesting and sending three military absentee ballots to Brandtjen’s home in an attempt to point out flaws in the elections system. Zapata was subsequently fired and charged with a felony.

Brandtjen and the veterans group went to court in November to halt the immediate counting of Wisconsin’s military ballots until they could be verified as coming from real people, though the judge denied that request.

Members of the military are not required to register to vote before requesting a ballot in Wisconsin. Election clerks are required under state law to maintain an “up-to-date” list of all the active military voters from the municipality.

The lawsuit alleged a failure to maintain a military elector list. Plaintiffs pointed to WEC guidance on military voting, saying it didn’t comply with state statute because it neglected to provide guidance to election clerks on maintaining lists.

Judge Michael Maxwell dismissed the case, writing that the plaintiffs shouldn’t have brought the case against WEC, but “rather they should have brought suit against the clerk or other election official that they believe either acted improperly or failed to act properly.”

“Had there been ‘an elections official’ listed as a Defendant, the people of this County and this State might know if the important safeguards of [the statute] are being adhered to,” Maxwell wrote in his decision. “That answer will have to wait for another day.”

Maxwell, however, agreed with the plaintiffs’ assertion that WEC should provide more information and guidance for local election officials on how to utilize the military ballot list, but said making that a requirement was beyond his power.

“This Court does not have the authority to order WEC to add language to a guidance document – only to determine if the guidance document issued is proper under the law,” Maxwell wrote in his decision. “To be clear, the Court agrees with the assertion that WEC’s guidance ought to have more information for local election officials on how to utilize the military ballot list and perhaps how to audit the list and ballots to ensure that there are not fraudulent military ballots being cast, but the Court does not have the authority to require such additional guidance.”

The Milwaukee incident prompted other responses from state lawmakers as well. One proposal by a bipartisan group of lawmakers would require military voters to provide their federal Department of Defense (DOD) number on an absentee ballot application, and elections clerks would then need to verify voters’ numbers with the state Department of Military Affairs. That bill received a hearing in the Assembly in June, but has not received one in the Senate.

Waukesha Co. Judge dismisses GOP lawmaker’s military ballot case was originally published by the Wisconsin Examiner.