The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Friday has allowed officials to position ballot drop boxes throughout their communities for the upcoming fall elections. This decision overturns a previous ruling from two years ago that restricted the use of drop boxes in the state. Back in July 2022, the court limited drop box placement to local election clerks’ offices, with only the voter being permitted to return a ballot in person.
However, with the court now under liberal control following Janet Protasiewicz’s election victory in April 2023, Priorities USA, a progressive voter mobilization group, seized the opportunity to request a review of the decision in February. The court’s decision to permit drop boxes in any location could have significant implications for the presidential race in Wisconsin, a crucial swing state.
Democrats are hopeful that facilitating absentee voting will lead to increased turnout in their favor. The court’s 4-3 ruling on Friday emphasized that the use and placement of drop boxes fall under the discretion of local election clerks, with Justice Ann Walsh Bradley highlighting that utilizing a drop box maintained by a clerk is equivalent to handing the ballot directly to the clerk, regardless of the box’s location.
“Our decision today does not force or require that any municipal clerks use drop boxes,” Bradley wrote. “It merely acknowledges what (state law) has always meant: that clerks may lawfully utilize secure drop boxes in an exercise of their statutorily-conferred discretion.”
The dissenting opinion was shared by all three conservative justices. Justice Rebecca Bradley expressed her belief that the liberals’ actions were driven by a political agenda and condemned their disregard for the precedent established in the 2022 ruling.
“The majority in this case overrules (the 2022 decision) not because it is legally erroneous, but because the majority finds it politically inconvenient,” Bradley wrote. “The majority’s activism marks another triumph of political power over legal principle in this court.”
Absentee voting saw a surge in popularity during the 2020 pandemic, with over 40% of voters opting for mail-in ballots, marking a new record. In preparation for the election, more than 500 drop boxes were installed in over 430 communities, with a significant number in Madison and Milwaukee, the state’s major Democratic strongholds. Despite claims by Trump and Republicans that drop boxes could lead to fraud, no evidence was presented to support these allegations.
Democrats, election officials, and some Republicans maintained that the drop boxes were secure. A survey conducted by the Associated Press found no instances of fraud, vandalism, or theft related to the drop boxes that could have impacted the election results in 2020. The Wisconsin Legislature, controlled by Republicans, stepped in to argue that the 2022 ruling should remain unchanged. Misha Tseytlin, their attorney, did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Friday. Matt Fisher, a spokesperson for the state Republican Party, expressed disappointment with the decision.
“This latest attempt by leftist justices to placate their far-left backers will not go unanswered by voters,” he said in a statement.
