The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on July 5 that officials can place ballot drop boxes around their communities in this fall’s elections, overturning its own ruling two years ago limiting their use in the presidential swing state.
The court limited the use of drop boxes in July 2022, ruling then that they could be placed only in local election clerks’ offices and no one other than the voter could return a ballot in person.
Conservatives controlled the court at that time, but Janet Protasiewicz’s election victory in April 2023 flipped the court to liberal control. Seeing an opening, Priorities USA, a progressive voter mobilization group, asked the court in February to revisit the decision.
At least 29 other states allow for absentee ballot drop boxes, according to the U.S. Vote Foundation, and expanded use in Wisconsin could have major implications in the presidential race.
Wisconsin again figures to be a crucial swing state after President Joe Biden barely won it in 2020 and Donald Trump narrowly took it in 2016. Democrats believe that making it easier to vote absentee will boost turnout for their side.
The justices announced in March they would review the ban on drop boxes but would not consider any other parts of the case. The move drew the ire of the court’s conservatives. Democratic Governor Tony Evers in April urged the court to again allow drop boxes.
“At the very heart of our democracy is the fundamental freedom to vote, and drop box voting is a safe and secure way to help make sure every eligible Wisconsinite is able to cast their ballot,” said Governor Evers. “Across our country, election officials have chosen to use drop boxes to ensure that all eligible voters can freely cast their ballots, all while keeping ballots safe and secure.”
Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, one of the court’s four liberal justices, wrote for the majority that placing a ballot in a drop box set up and maintained by a local election clerk is no different than giving the ballot to the clerk, regardless of the box’s location. Local clerks have great discretion in how they administer elections and that extends to using and locating drop boxes, she added.
“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 court ruled 4-3 on July 5 that drop boxes can be utilized in any location. All three conservative justices dissented, with Justice Rebecca Bradley criticizing the majority for ignoring the precedent set by the 2022 ruling.
Bradley’s disapproval rang hollow against the recent actions by conservative justices on U.S. Supreme Court. In a series of highly controversial and consequential decisions over the past two years – including the reversal of Roe v. Wade, those Republican members of the court have established a precedent of ignoring longstanding precedents.
Prior to the 2022 ruling, mailboxes and drop boxes were used as a method of delivering ballots in Wisconsin’s free and fair elections. For several election cycles, local clerks throughout the state ensured the security of absentee voting through secure drop boxes and by implementing protections that track ballots and maintain a strict chain of custody to ensure every eligible vote is counted.
The popularity of absentee voting exploded during the pandemic in 2020, with more than 40% of all voters casting mail ballots, a record high. At least 500 drop boxes were set up in more than 430 communities for the election that year, including more than a dozen each in Madison and Milwaukee — the state’s two most heavily Democratic cities.
“The Milwaukee Election Commission plans to make drop boxes available for the August partisan primary and the November general election. It is currently reviewing processes and equipment needs in order to deploy drop boxes,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “There is no credible evidence drop boxes are an avenue for election law violations. And, Milwaukee will have appropriate protocols in place to assure continued election integrity.”
Trump and Republicans have claimed that drop boxes facilitated cheating, even though they offered no evidence. Democrats, election officials, and some Republicans contend that the boxes are secure.
A survey of state election officials across the U.S. revealed no cases of fraud, vandalism, or theft that could have affected the results in 2020.
Republicans who gerrymandered control the Wisconsin Legislature intervened in the case, arguing that the justices should leave the 2022 ruling alone.
Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, who administers elections in the state’s most Democratic county, called drop boxes a “common sense tool.” He said they make the election process more convenient and easier for rural and disabled voters and help reduce the number of ballots that arrive after election day too late to be counted.
“Having drop boxes in place for the 2024 elections in August and November will encourage civic participation in our democracy,” McDonell said in a statement.
