MASSIVE WIN FOR REPUBLICANS: As A Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Bohren Has Banned Ballot Drop Boxes

*Disclaimer* This article is being republished in light of the upcoming November elections and the importance of election integrity. Disclaimer: This article may contain the viewpoint and opinion of the author.

The issue of ballot drop boxes has been getting more and more attention lately. In fact, taking place in the key battleground state of Wisconsin, a judge just made a pretty massive ruling regarding both ballot drop boxes, and also on what we have come to know as ballot harvesting. The ruling effectively states that both ballot drop boxes and ballot harvesting violate the laws of the state and followed up by adding that they absolutely cannot be used for the much talked about and upcoming midterm elections.

It was Michael Bohren, the Circuit Court Judge of Waukesha, said that “there is no statutory authority” that would allow for either of these ridiculous and suspect practices to be used. In fact, this was extremely hotly debated in the aftermath of Wisconsin’s extremely tight outcome following the 2020 presidential election. It was only around 20,000 votes that Biden supposedly had which amounted to a victory over Donald Trump.

It has been further reported that:

The Wisconsin Elections Commission, which is under fire for allegedly bending and even openly violating state law to give Biden an edge, authorized the dramatic increase in the use of ballot drop boxes, but Judge Bohren held that the agency lacked lawful authority to do so.

The plaintiffs, voters represented by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), argued that state law allowed for only two methods of returning an absentee ballot: Through the mail or in person at the municipal clerk’s office. Nowhere does it allow for a ballot to be dropped off in a drop box.

Likewise, Wisconsin law provides that no person “may receive a ballot from or give a ballot to a person other than the election official in charge.” This, the plaintiffs argued, is a clear prohibition on ballot harvesting, the practice of third parties collecting absentee ballots from voters.

Despite this, the Wisconsin Elections Commission sent a memo to municipal clerks ahead of the 2020 election indicating that “a family member or another person may also return the ballot on behalf of the voter” and that ballots could be returned in drop boxes instead of in person at the clerk’s office.

Neither of these, Bohren ruled Thursday, were lawful orders. Still, clerks set up more than 500 ballot drop boxes across the state, which were used to collect tens of thousands of absentee ballots. The ruling, which will almost certainly be appealed, prohibits the use of drop boxes in upcoming elections.

Wisconsin’s current U.S. Senate race is among the most hotly contested in the country, as control of the Senate may depend upon its result.

Last week, incumbent Republican Ron Johnson announced he would run for a third term. Several Democrats, including Lt. Gov Mandela Barnes and Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, have launched bids to unseat Johnson.

The state will also have a fiercely fought gubernatorial election, as former Republican Lt. Gov Rebecca Kleefisch is challenging Democrat incumbent Tony Evers. Last fall, Kleefisch filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Elections Commission in an effort to force it to follow state law during the 2022 election cycle.

Her suit, seeking direct action from the Wisconsin Supreme Court, also alleged the use of ballot drop boxes violated state law, a position confirmed by a report by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau.

That agency determined in October that the Wisconsin Elections Commission did not comply with numerous laws in the way it administered the 2020 election.

So, this would seem to be a rather substantive win for election integrity and making sure that every single vote, not only counts, but is counted. This is certainly a very good start.

It is most likely impossible to be completely secure and free from fraud or meddling, but we can certainly minimize as best we can their risk. Follow The Raging Patriot for more on this story as it develops.