Milana Doné
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Wait was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of election fraud and one felony count of identity theft. |
RACINE — A jury on Tuesday night found Harry Wait guilty on three of four charges in his election fraud case following a two-day trial and more than three hours of deliberation.
The 71-year-old faced two felony counts of misappropriating identifying information — obtain money and two misdemeanor counts of election fraud — fraud/absentee ballot.
Wait was found not guilty of one count of misappropriating identifying information.
Case history
On July 26, 2022, Wait was at the Racine County Fair when he ordered absentee ballots for Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason be sent to his residence in Union Grove.
While ordering the ballots, Wait was on camera for HOT Government, a watchdog group whose name is an acronym for honest, open and transparent. In 2022, Wait was the group’s president.
Later, Wait sent an email to several public officials saying he ordered the ballots to prove that harvesting ballots can be done. In the email, he said if the ballots were mailed to his residence, he would return them.
Mason’s ballot arrived at Wait’s residence, and Wait posted a photo of himself holding it.
After unsuccessfully trying to return the ballot to the City Clerk’s Office, Wait ultimately returned the ballot to the Racine County Sheriff's Office.
Since then, the case has garnered state and national attention.
Trial
Dozens of supporters of Wait and HOT Government filled the courtroom gallery in downtown Racine on Monday and Tuesday, and extended into an overflow courtroom to watch the proceedings via Zoom.
During opening statements Monday afternoon, prosecuting attorney Leigh Neville-Neil said that Wait put the integrity of an election at risk to seek attention.
“He broke the law so he could broadcast it to anyone who would listen to get the attention he was after,” Neville-Neil said.
Defense attorney Joseph Bugni did not contest any of Wait’s alleged actions but argued about the intent behind what Wait did.
“All he wants to do is expose corruption,” Bugni said.
Bugni said that while Wait ordered the ballots, he had no intention of keeping them, destroying them or using them to vote.
Rather, Bugni said Wait's only intent was to prove it could be done and expose the vulnerabilities of elections and MyVote, an online portal used in Wisconsin for registering to vote, requesting ballots and obtaining ballot information.
The state claimed the intent did not absolve Wait of taking responsibility for committing the crimes, saying it is wrong for someone to rob a bank to prove it can be done or to set fire to a house to prove the fire department arrives too slowly.
During his witness testimony, Vos said he was “frustrated” when he found out Wait requested his ballot.
On the stand, Mason said he “was upset someone pretended to be me and take my ballot.”
Vos and Mason said once the respective village and city clerks knew the absentee ballots were fraudulently ordered, both were still able to vote in the 2022 election.
When Wait took the stand Tuesday, he said he “didn’t want to take away their voting rights.”
Wait said he did not want the ballots, which is why he returned Mason’s ballot to the sheriff’s office. The state argued that ordering the ballots without wanting them was illogical.
Wait said he ordered the ballots “for public good, for public benefit because people have to realize their vote is not safe.”
He asserted that he proved his point.
“I could’ve ordered a thousand ballots. I could’ve ordered yours and mailed it to her,” Wait told state prosecutors during cross examination.
The state tried to prove that Wait ordered the ballots to gain attention and fame, especially because he chose the ballots of public figures.
Wait repeatedly admitted to ordering the ballots in Vos’ name and Mason’s name without their consent, but adamantly denied wanting personal fame.
“I brought attention to it because attention had to be brought to it,” Wait said. “It’s not about me.”
When asked by his attorney why he did it, Wait said, “to save a republic.”
Wait’s signature bond was set at $2,500. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for June 2 at the Walworth County Courthouse.
This article has been updated since originally published to reflect the scheduled sentencing date.
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