Judge Drops The Gavel: With A Decision Highly Related To Drop Boxes And Ballot Harvesting, A Wisconsin Judge Slams Democrats’ Absentee Ballot Scheme.

By choosing to ban absentee ballot drop boxes, a Wisconsin court has dealt a stunning blow to the state’s Democrats. Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that state law allows absentee ballots to be submitted in person or by mail, but not through drop boxes. Everything is excellent, but there is no authorization to do it, according to The Honorable Judge.

He added that he would still issue an injunction in 10 days requiring the state Elections Commission to rescind long-standing recommendations to municipal clerks from across state indicating that absentee ballot drop boxes are permissible. Drop boxes have always been available in many Wisconsin communities, but their use surged in 2020, when absentee voting peaked as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Over 500 of these were available during the presidential election, according to a database produced by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.

If Bohren’s injunction forbidding the use of drop boxes is upheld on appeal, it will have an influence on how votes are returned in next month’s low-turnout primary for spring elections. It will have far-reaching consequences in the autumn, when a far larger number of people vote. The case was filed by Richard Teigen of Hartland and Richard Thom of Menomonee Falls, who were represented by the right-wing Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

The state Elections Commission’s counsel argued that the Act didn’t specify how ballots might be transferred to the state, but the court disagreed. The judge’s decision also prohibits anybody from bringing the ballot back for them, implying that political organizations are not permitted to engage in ballot harvesting. Voters are not permitted to have their spouse or neighbor bring in their ballot for them.