Comment MADISON, Wis. — Prosecutors filed voter fraud charges Thursday against a man who ordered absentee ballots in the names of two others to bolster his claims that breaking election laws is easy. Attempting to expose election fraud is likely to land conservative activist Harry Waite with two felony and two misdemeanor charges. In an interview, Waite said he stands by his decision to have ballots sent to his home in the name of the state assembly speaker and the mayor of Racine, Wis. “In hindsight, I would do it over a hundred times over,” Waite said. Wait is the president of a group called HOT Government, which takes its name from its commitment to support “honest, open and transparent government.” He has used his platform for the past two years to challenge the state’s election laws and practices. In July, he used a statewide online portal called MyVote Wisconsin to request primary ballots in the names of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) and Racine Mayor Cory Mason (D) — two officials he has long criticized. Mason’s ballot was mailed to Waite’s home in Dover in southeastern Wisconsin, but Voss’s was not. Wait said he returned Mason’s sealed ballot to county officials. After attacks and primary challenge, Wisconsin GOP leader still stands by Trump Immediately after claiming the ballots, Waite notified the sheriff and the district attorney in his county to tell them what he had done and to offer himself for arrest. Wait claimed his ability to make the request showed the MyVote portal was faulty and called on officials to shut it down. Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling (R) told Wait he would not arrest him and praised him for alerting the public to the matter. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) soon after announced that the state Department of Justice was investigating the matter. On Thursday, Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Susan Happ charged Waite with two felony counts of unauthorized use of personal identification information and two misdemeanor counts of voter fraud. If convicted of all charges, Waite could face up to 13 years in prison and $22,000 in fines. The criminal complaint describes Wait as soliciting ballots under the names “Individual 1” and “Individual 2.” Other records, along with Wait’s own comments, reveal that they are Vos and Mason. The complaint says Waite also ordered ballots in other people’s names after getting permission from them. He is not charged with any wrongdoing for ordering these ballots. Wait has repeatedly acknowledged doing what the criminal complaint alleges. He said Thursday that he planned to represent himself initially and would argue that he did not break the law because he does not believe the MyVote system is legally authorized. Election officials have rejected his claims that the portal is legally invalid. “You have to do what you have to do to protect democracy,” Waite said. “What I did is a matter of record. I gave the Justice Department everything it needed to prosecute me. And I’m going to stand in front of 12 jurors and see if they agree with the DOJ.” Using MyVote, anyone can look up voters if they know their names and dates of birth. Once logged in, they can order absentee ballots and request that they be sent anywhere. This option is available so that voters who are temporarily absent can have their ballots mailed to their place of residence. Most voters in Wisconsin must provide a copy of a photo ID the first time they request an absentee ballot. Under state law, voters who say it is indefinitely who are confined to their homes due to age or disability do not need to show identification. Wait used that feature to bypass the ID requirement, he said. Applying to vote through MyVote generates an email to the voter’s municipal clerk, who makes the final decision to send a ballot. The clerk in the Mason community sent his ballot to Wait, but the one in the Vos community did not after checking the request. He said he also prevented another ballot in Vos’ name from being sent overseas. Voter fraud is rare. Last year, the Wisconsin Elections Commission identified 41 cases of possible voter fraud from primaries and elections in late 2020 and early 2021. That represents a small fraction of the millions of ballots cast in those elections.
