Did the chair of the Wisconsin Assembly’s elections committee sue to disqualify thousands of military mail-in ballots in Wisconsin?

Hours before polls for the 2022 midterm elections opened in Wisconsin, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Maxwell refused to order a temporary injunction that would have sequestered all military absentee ballots until their legality could be verified. State Rep. Janel Brandtjen, the Republican chair of the Wisconsin Assembly’s elections committee, had sued, seeking the court order.

The sequestering of ballots "just seems to be a drastic remedy,” the judge said.

The lawsuit came after Kimberly Zapata, the Milwaukee Election Commission’s deputy director, was criminally charged for requesting three false military absentee ballots using fictitious names and having them sent to Brandtjen to call attention to voting system weaknesses.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission stated that — despite Zapata's charging — “This lone individual’s actions do not in any way reflect the high level of integrity" of other local Wisconsin election officials.