On Friday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court handed down a ruling that ballot drop boxes , used frequently during the pandemic election of 2020, are now illegal.
Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote in the majority ruling that ballots must be returned to a clerk’s office or other designated site and not to an “inanimate object” like a ballot box.
“Nothing in the statutory language detailing the procedures by which absentee ballots may be cast mentions drop boxes or anything like them,” Bradley wrote.
She continued, “Only the legislature may permit absentee voting via ballot drop boxes.”
“WEC’s staff may have been trying to make voting as easy as possible during the pandemic, but whatever their motivations, WEC must follow Wisconsin statutes,” the court’s decision read “Good intentions never override the law.”
The decision was 4-3 and the court also ruled that people also cannot have other people return their ballots in person to a clerk’s office or ballot drop off and must return it themselves.
This decision also impacts upcoming elections in November where Democrat Governor Tony Evers and Republican Senator Ron Johnson are both running for reelection.
The case began when the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty sued the state’s election commission at the behest of two voters.
The election commission approved the drop boxes during the pandemic so that voters would not have to go to the polls and potentially become sick. In 2020, they put out 528 boxes across the state for the general election.
The dissent to the ruling on the court was written by Justice Ann Walsh Bradley who said the decision would make it harder for people to vote.
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This is a massive change right before an election. There have been security concerns about drop boxes from many people and this will end that for now. Do you think that this is the right decision and drop boxes should be banned in all states?
