On Tuesday in Racine County, Wisconsin, jurors found Harry Wait guilty of two misdemeanor election-fraud charges and one felony identity-theft charge after a two-day trial.
The jury acquitted Wait of a second identity-theft count.
Prosecutors said Wait requested absentee ballots for Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Democratic Racine Mayor Cory Mason without their consent.
Wait has led or promoted a group advancing false claims that Wisconsin elections are riddled with fraud and that Donald Trump won Wisconsin in 2020 (Trump lost the state by about 21,000 votes).
Wait said in 2022 he requested the ballots to demonstrate vulnerabilities in Wisconsinâs voter registration/absentee request process and said he expected legal consequences.
In 2022, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson praised Wait as a âwhite hat hacker,â and after the verdict Wait told WTMJ he âwould do it again,â claiming, âI tested the system and the system failed.â
Sentencing had not been scheduled as of March 25, 2026; Waitâs lawyer did not say whether he would appeal.
NBC reported Wait faces up to six years in prison on the felony conviction and up to a year in jail on each misdemeanor (some local reporting describes the maximum exposure differently depending on charge structure).
The article links Waitâs case to Kimberly Zapata, a former Milwaukee election official convicted in 2024 after obtaining three military absentee ballots in 2022 using fake names and Social Security numbers; she later received probation and a fine.