A Union Grove man convicted in March of election fraud and identity theft was sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation after a Racine County jury found he used the state’s online voting system to request absentee ballots in the names of two elected officials without their permission.
Harry Wait, 67, president of H.O.T. Government (Honest, Open, Transparent), received no jail time. Walworth County Circuit Court Judge Daniel S. Johnson presided over the sentencing hearing at the Walworth County Courthouse.
“I am not going to impose jail in this case,” the judge said during the hearing. “I have to balance all the sentencing factors against each other, and I simply find that when looking at the gravity of these particular crimes, specifically the felony, when compared to other misappropriation of identification felonies that this court sees, this is on the lower end.”
Before the hearing got underway, Wait told Racine County Eye that no matter what happened, the state’s a loser.
“No matter if I get sentenced (to jail) or not, the state’s a loser, and a victory has taken place,” he said. “I’d do it again and again and again. We have a right to challenge our government the way we did, and both judges are wrong.”
Wait’s Sentencing Conditions
As conditions of his probation, Wait was ordered not to commit any crimes and not to make threats of physical harm to election officials.
The judge also imposed a limited no-contact order with the two victims — Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason — except in their official capacities as elected officials.
Any communications Wait wishes to have with Vos or Mason must be routed through his probation agent.
“I think Mr. Wait has an absolute right to speak to these elected officials in their official capacities,” Johnson said. “I do not want that right restricted in any way.”
The judge cited Wait’s age, physical health, and lack of prior criminal record as mitigating factors in the sentencing decision.
The Conviction
A Racine County jury convicted Wait on March 24 on three of four counts: two misdemeanor counts of election fraud and one felony count of identity theft. He was acquitted on a second felony count of unauthorized use of personal identifying information.
Wait admitted during testimony that on July 26, 2022, while working a booth at the Racine County Fair, he used Wisconsin’s MyVote website to request absentee ballots in the names of Vos and Mason without their knowledge or consent. He had the ballots directed to his home address, received Mason’s ballot, which he never opened, and later attempted to return it to authorities.
A ballot was never sent for Vos because the local clerk flagged the request as suspicious.
Wait said he acted to expose vulnerabilities in the state’s absentee voting process, describing his motivation as a desire to “save the Republic.”
“It’s not about me,” Wait said during cross-examination. “It’s about the Republic.”
State prosecutor Adrienne Blais of the Wisconsin Department of Justice pushed back on that framing during trial.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you don’t get to break the law to show that the law can be broken,” Blais told the jury.
Motion for New Trial Denied
Wait’s defense filed a motion for a new trial on April 13. The state moved to dismiss that motion on May 22, but there is not a record of the court denying the request before sentencing took place.
Under Wisconsin law, a felony conviction strips a person of the right to vote for the duration of any sentence, including probation. Wait’s voting rights will be automatically restored once his three-year probation term is fully served.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice originally charged Wait in September 2022. The case drew sustained attention in Racine County and beyond, and supporters packed the courtroom during the two-day trial. They also submitted dozens of character letters to the court in the months leading up to sentencing.
