Wisconsin Supreme Court bars absentee ballot drop boxes outside elections offices
Wisconsin voters casting absentee ballots cannot drop them in boxes located anywhere except the offices of election clerks, the state’s Supreme Court ruled.
Wisconsin voters casting absentee ballots will no longer be able to drop them in boxes located anywhere except the offices of election clerks, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The 4-3 ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s conservative majority is a setback for Democrats in the state, who had advocated for the continuation of the more lenient rules about drop boxes that arose during the pandemic. The decision is likely have ramifications for voter turnout in the state’s closely watched governor’s and U.S. Senate races this summer and fall — as well as elections beyond 2022. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson are seeking re-election, with primaries scheduled for Aug. 9.
The use of drop boxes for absentee ballots has been repeatedly criticized by former President Donald Trump and his allies, who have falsely claimed that the practice led to widespread voter fraud in 2020. Wisconsin is one of many states where Republicans, often at Trump’s urging, have waged war on their use.
The state's high court ruled that only the the state Legislature — currently controlled by Republicans — has the power to enact laws and policy regarding absentee ballot drop boxes, not the Wisconsin Elections Commission, a bipartisan organization that oversees elections in the state.
The court, however, did not rule on another pivotal issue in the case: whether absentee ballots could be dropped off at or mailed to local elections clerks’ offices by people other than the ones casting the votes — a practice conservatives have labeled “ballot harvesting.”
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