Racine County man accused of requesting absentee ballots in the names of two prominent Wisconsin politicians is set to go to trial later this month.
Harry Wait, 71, faces two misdemeanor election fraud charges and two felony identity theft charges filed by Wisconsin's Attorney General's office.
He is accused of going to the My Vote government website in 2022 to request absentee ballots for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason.
Watch: Racine County man's election fraud trial set to begin after absentee ballot controversy
Wait received and returned Mason's ballot, never received Vos' ballot, and then publicly admitted to the actions in online videos and notified local authorities about what he did.
Wait has said his motive was to expose what he believes are flaws in the state's absentee ballot system.
At a final pretrial hearing in Walworth County, Wait's defense team argued the case should center on his intent.
"I don't think it's one of justification — it's one of informing what his thought process was," defense lawyer Joe Bugni said. "So it goes to his purpose — so as long as he's not acting with that illicit purpose — he's not guilty of the crime."
Prosecutors rejected the idea that the case is about the why. Judge Daniel Johnson of Walworth County questioned the relevance of Wait's motivation.
"Absent an affirmative defense — generally why someone violated the law wouldn't be something that would come into a trial," Johnson said.
Wait rejected a plea deal offer from the state to plead guilty to the two misdemeanor charges in exchange for a potential sentence of two years' probation.
About two dozen supporters attended the pretrial hearing. Matt Snorek was among them.
"I think all these people here really care about the, the integrity of our elections going forward," Snorek said.
At the time of the charges, Attorney Josh Kaul said in a statement: "The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that the integrity of our elections is protected from alleged intentional violations of the law.”
The two-day jury trial is set for March 23 in Racine County.
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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