By The wife of a Republican Milwaukee County official has been convicted of felony election fraud for her role in an extensive scheme to illegally obtain absentee ballots for 2020 elections in Wisconsin.
Rita R. Oberhofer, 50, was convicted of felony election fraud for falsely obtaining absentee ballots and filing fraudulent absentee ballot applications in April 2020. The Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously upheld her convictions in May 2021.
Oberhofer was the wife of Milwaukee County Controller Scott Walker, a Republican. She worked as his campaign adviser. As part of the scheme, Oberhofer falsely claimed numerous people were disabled, allowing them to obtain absentee ballots without having to appear at the polls in person. Prosecutors said she also arranged rides for people who were not disabled to deliver completed absentee ballots.
The scheme tricked hundreds of people into falsely believing they could vote by absentee ballot. In all, Oberhofer was found guilty of five felony counts and a misdemeanor count of election fraud. She was sentenced to three years in prison and three years of extended supervision for her role in the scheme.
