A Milwaukee Election Commission employee was recently fired for fraudulently sending military absentee ballots to a Republican state representative known to embrace election conspiracy theories. Conservative media personalities, users of far-right fringe social media platforms, and even incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) are using this allegedly criminal breach of voters’ trust to further erode confidence in the state’s upcoming elections.

Former election official Kimberly Zapata seemingly aimed to validate GOP fearmongering about election fraud

On November 3, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Kimberly Zapata, the deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, was fired amid accusations that she “fraudulently request[ed] absentee ballots reserved for members of the military” and sent the ballots to state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, “a Republican lawmaker known for embracing unfounded conspiracy theories about the 2020 election,” perhaps in an effort to “expose vulnerability” in the election system.

In a November 4 interview alongside fellow 2020 election conspiracy theorist John Solomon, Brandtjen claimed that these fraudulently sent military ballots meant that Wisconsin’s elections are not secure. The interview took place on Real America’s Voice, a far-right website that is host to disgraced former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and other right-wing conspiracy theorists. Bannon in particular uses the platform to further election lies and recruit followers to help the right-wing effort to overturn elections Republicans lose and intimidate voters in swing states.

The Journal Sentinel further reported that local officials say no other ballots were affected by Zapata’s actions and that “faith in Milwaukee’s elections should not be shaken because city officials were forthcoming about what had happened and Zapata was immediately fired.”

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson used Zapata’s actions to further undermine Wisconsin’s upcoming election

Over the past month, incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who is up for reelection next week, has repeatedly refused to say he’ll accept the results of Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race if he loses. Following the news about Zapata’s firing, Johnson used it as an excuse to again refuse to accept the upcoming election results when asked by a reporter, saying, “I sure hope I can”:

Earlier this summer, the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection revealed that Johnson, through his chief of staff, was involved in former President Donald Trump’s 2020 coup attempt by trying to relay a fraudulent slate of Electoral College electors from his state to Vice President Mike Pence. Johnson has also downplayed the violence of the attempted GOP overthrow of our government, denying it was an “armed insurrection” well after the select committee revealed that numerous attendees were carrying firearms at the Trump rally that preceded the hours-long assault on police officers at the Capitol and attempts by Trump supporters to hunt down members of Congress. Johnson had announced prior to January 6 that he would vote to support an objection to certifying the Electoral College votes, but didn’t go through with it following the insurrection.

Conservative media personalities and far-right social media platform users piled on with accusations of election fraud

Right-wing figures tweeted about the story on Thursday afternoon, sharing an article from right-wing outlet the Post Millennial and expressing outrage about the media’s purported silence.

Facebook users then shared these tweets to right-wing Facebook groups, as well as the article from the Post Millennial and additional articles from right-wing outlets the Western Journal and the Gateway Pundit, adding that Zapata should be in jail.

Across alternative platforms, other users claimed that Zapata was trying to expose election fraud but that she was fired for acting as a whistleblower.