MADISON, WI (WSAU) — The Wisconsin Department of Justice has brought formal charges against a Union Grove man who used personal information to request absentee ballots for others without their approval or knowledge ahead of the August primary.
Harry E Wait will appear before a Racine County Judge next Thursday for a total of four charges; two counts of election fraud and two counts of unauthorized use of a person’s identifying information. Investigators say Wait used personal information to request absentee ballots for a handful of people without their knowledge, then requested that they be delivered to his home in Union Grove.
According to a copy of the complaint, Wait requested ballots for a total of eight people. That includes voters in Eau Claire, Plover, and Antigo. Seven of the ballots were to be sent to an address in Union Grove, another to an address in the Czech Republic.
Names and specific addresses of those that Wait is said to have requested ballots for were redacted from the complaint. Hometowns were not.
Investigators say many of the ballots were requested while Wait was at the HOT booth at the Racine County Fair. Some of the individuals say they gave Wait permission to request an absentee ballot for them, but two people said they did not.
The 17-page complaint also includes details of Wait appearing to admit to the crime, saying he was “ready to be charged” for committing the fraud.
If found guilty Wait could face up to 13 years in prison and thousands in fines.
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