The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday ruled that election officials can once again position absentee ballot drop boxes throughout the state, not just at election offices.
The decision by the court’s new liberal majority reversed a July 2022 ruling by the court’s previous conservative majority that made widespread use of ballot drop boxes illegal. The last court ruled that state law did not permit drop boxes anywhere other than election clerk offices.
Democrats heralded the return of ballot drop boxes as a victory for democracy, and Republicans decried it as a setback for election integrity.
Rep Tom Tiffany, a Republican, said the reversal amounts to legalizing voter fraud.
“Just after Wisconsinites voted overwhelmingly to bolster election integrity in the state, the liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court voted to overturn a previous precedent they set, effectively legalizing anonymous ballot box stuffing,” Mr. Tiffany said in a statement. “This decision not only opens the door to potentially fraudulent activities but also undermines the expressed desires of Wisconsin voters.”
Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming called the ruling a “setback for both the separation of powers and public trust in our elections.”
“The left-wing justices on the Supreme Court of Wisconsin have obeyed the demands of their out-of-state donors at the expense of Wisconsin. This latest attempt by leftist justices to placate their far-left backers will not go unanswered by voters,” Mr. Schimming said.
Republicans have long criticized the use of drop boxes after President Biden won Wisconsin in 2020 against former President Trump by roughly 21,000 votes.
Democrats celebrated the new decision that allows voters to cast ballots into the locked unmanned boxes. They said it makes voting more accessible and does “not impose barriers based on conspiracy theories.”
“By restoring access to safe and secure ballot drop boxes, the court has ensured voters in communities across Wisconsin —cities big and small, in red areas and blue areas — are able to exercise their right to vote in a way that works for them,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler said.
“Today’s rulings are a victory for Wisconsin’s constitution and our democracy, and should serve as a notice to Republican politicians in Madison—who have schemed for more than a decade to undermine the basic functions of our government—that the era of government sabotage is over.”
Democrats filed a lawsuit against the state’s prohibition on drop boxes just two weeks before the court’s new 4-3 liberal majority was seated.
According to the lawsuit, the drop boxes are critical for voters “who are unable to vote in person because of disability, scheduling conflicts, lack of transportation, or other hardship.”
When the conservative justices initially banned drop boxes in 2022, they said state law does not allow them in any location other than election clerk offices.
They also said that only the state legislature can establish policy related to the receptacles, not the Wisconsin Elections Commission, which issued guidance to clerks allowing the boxes in 2020.
The state legislature is currently controlled by Republican majorities.
Ballot drop boxes have been available in the Badger State since the 1980s, and hundreds more were installed during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow for voting while limiting person-to-person contact. In 2020, over 40% of the votes cast were from absentee ballots.
By 2021, there were about 570 drop boxes in Wisconsin, and the state’s 72 counties had at least 66 drop boxes as of spring 2021, which means the remaining cities can re-install them before the August primaries, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The Friday ruling comes just days after a Dane County circuit court judge ordered Wisconsin election officials to email absentee ballots to disabled Wisconsin voters. These voters would still need to turn in the ballots by mail or deliver them to a local clerk’s office because they cannot cast their ballot by email.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.