RACINE — Harry Wait, who is accused of election fraud for requesting absentee ballots in other people's names, appeared in court Monday for a long awaited trial that brought dozens of supporters to the William L. McReynolds Law Enforcement Center in Racine.
Wait faces two felony counts of using misappropriate identification information and two misdemeanor counts of election fraud.
This comes after Wait visited the MyVote Wisconsin website, requested absentee ballots for City of Racine Mayor Cory Mason and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in 2022.
Watch: Supporters fill Racine County courtroom as Harry Wait begins trial for election fraud charges Monday
Wait received Mason's ballot, never received a ballot for Vos, and then told Racine County Sheriff Schmaling what he did, stating he intended to expose flaws in the absentee voting system.
Barbara Melone, Harry Wait's supporter and partner, noted the anticipation surrounding the trial.
"I'm anxious in a way because this has been awaited for a long time," Melone said Monday.
Supporters say the fact that Wait was able to request those ballots, received one of them, and is being tried shows there is a problem.
"So his actions, in my opinion, are those of a whistleblower," Jim McClain said.
Some supporters believe Wait should be found not guilty.
"My hope for the outcome of this trial is that it would be judged on the rule of law as the law is written. And if you read the statutes, clearly, Mr. Wait is not guilty. However, it's a very emotional issue," McClain said.
Others said a guilty verdict further proves a point.
"And Harry wants to do that, from what he's told me in the past. He wants to make a point," Candace Woodard said.
But Woodard also said she wants to see the case dropped.
"I'd just hate to see him go to jail over it," she said.
Melone said Wait has "a very good moral compass."
When TMJ4's Lauren Sklba pointed out that his moral compass is what got him in this situation, Melone agreed that it got him in trouble.
"Yes, I know," she said.
McClain told TMJ4 News he is an absentee voter himself. He said he votes absentee because of his physical needs, but also said Wait's trial makes him more likely to consider voting in person.
"As an absentee voter myself, what I'm concerned with is the lack of security in the process of obtaining an absentee ballot through MyVote," McClain said.
Supporters said they want to see changes to the MyVote Wisconsin website in the future.
Wait's trial was set to continue Tuesday.
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