In its effort to catch election fraud, the Conservative Political Action Conference this week claimed it had photographic evidence of illegal “ballot harvesting” in Wisconsin.
Chairman Matt Schlapp said his CPAC Foundation filed a complaint on Wednesday with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, complete with a witness account of the alleged crime conducted in broad daylight outside Milwaukee City Hall.
The witness said in a statement that he saw somebody jam up to 500 ballots into an unguarded ballot box and then flee once he realized that he was being photographed.
In Wisconsin, the law requires that voters personally handle their ballots. It bans the collection, or harvesting, of ballots by others, CPAC said.
As part of CPAC’s efforts to ensure elections are free and fair, CPAC has filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Election Commission (“WEC”) and reported to local law enforcement allegations of potential efforts to commit fraud or corruption in the voting process by an unknown…
— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) October 30, 2024
In its complaint, the Washington-based group, known best for hosting political conventions worldwide for conservative activists, said the law requires that “ballots be ‘mailed by the elector, or delivered in person, to the municipal clerk issuing the ballot or ballots’ unless the elector is disabled.”
It added that “CPAC believes the facts provided establish probable cause to believe a violation of Wisconsin law has occurred and urges the Wisconsin Elections Commission to promptly investigate these allegations.”
On X, Schlapp wrote, “CPAC received reports of illicit ballot harvesting at the dropbox location outside Milwaukee City Hall. A witness reported an individual depositing a significant number of absentee ballots into the dropbox before fleeing the scene. Ballot Harvesting is illegal under Wisconsin Law.” Schlapp added that CPAC “is committed to protecting our elections and urges WEC and local law enforcement to investigate these allegations.”
Below is what the witness wrote in his statement:
I have personal knowledge of the matters set forth herein, and if called as a witness, I could and would testify competently as to the truth of such matters.
On October 25, 2024, at approximately 7:55 pm, I witnessed an individual who appeared to deposit a bag full of absentee ballots into a dropbox.
It is my understanding that ballot trafficking is a violation of Wisconsin state law and that each elector must deliver their own absentee ballot unless the elector is disabled.
I was sitting in my car with my son outside of the City Hall dropbox location at 200 E. Wells Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202.
An individual approached the dropbox carrying two bags.
One of the bags was a drawstring backup. The other bag was a large green bag with a zipper on the top.
The green bag appeared to be full. I would estimate that the green bag could hold between 50 and 500 absentee ballots.
The individual walked up to the drop box and reached into the green bag at least five times to empty the contents of his bag into the dropbox.
While walking away from the dropbox, I watched the individual fold up the now empty green bag and proceed to put it in the drawstring backup.
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When the individual realized I was watching and taking pictures, the individual sprinted away.
I have attached four photos of the individual I was able to capture.