Wisconsin’s Department of Justice has filed an appeal against a judge’s ruling that prohibited the use of absentee ballot drop boxes. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul told Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren on Thursday that he wants to appeal Bohren’s judgment to the 4th District Court of Appeals. On Jan. 13, the judge ruled that drop boxes could only be found in local election clerks’ offices and that no one other than the voter may place an absentee ballot in them.
Wisconsin’s election laws are silent regarding drop boxes. The Wisconsin Elections Commission advised municipal clerks in 2020 that drop boxes may be installed wherever. With this information, election authorities in a number of Wisconsin municipalities set up drop boxes around the state, including in public parks, during the 2020 presidential election. Democrats favor such legislation, stating that it makes voting more convenient and that using drop boxes is safer than standing in long queues at polling centers during the COVID-19 epidemic. Republicans have tried to curtail their use since Joe Biden’s election victory against Donald Trump, alleging that having so many drop boxes raises the possibility of fraud.
Bohren’s judgment is part of a lawsuit filed in June by two Milwaukee voters against the state of Wisconsin, which calls the use of drop boxes into doubt. They are represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a conservative law firm. The Wisconsin Elections Commission, which is represented by the DOJ, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, Disability Rights Wisconsin, Wisconsin Faith Voice for Justice, and the League of Women Voters, is opposed to the proposal. On Friday, the defendants asked for a stay of Bohren’s decision, arguing that the drop box changes may confuse voters so close to the Feb. 15 spring primary election and result in disenfranchisement. Bohren refused, giving the commission until Monday to remove the notice informing clerks that drop boxes may be put wherever.
