Wisconsin Court rules against vote drop boxes

 Mike Miller:

A Wisconsin judge has ruled that the controversial absentee ballot drop boxes widely used in the 2020 election are not allowed under state law; a decision that could dramatically impact voting in the swing state’s midterm elections — not to mention the 2024 presidential election — if the judge’s ruling stands.

As reported by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren, after hearing three hours of arguments, determined state law allows absentee ballots to be returned in person or by mail — but not in a ballot drop box.

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Bohren then ordered the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) to retract its instructions to election officials on how to use drop boxes, declaring that the WEC had overstepped its authority in issuing the guidance in the first place. It was a “major policy decision that alters how our absentee ballot process operates,” Bohren said, that was significant enough that it should have required approval by the Wisconsin State Assembly.

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Importantly, the ruling prohibits voters from having someone else return their absentee ballots for them. (Again, Democrats hardest hit), which means political groups can’t pick up ballots for “voters” (wink-wink) and also prevent voters from giving their ballots to their spouses and neighbors to return for them.

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Drop boxes facilitate vote harvesting which can lead to voter fraud.  Vote harvesting can allow others to fill out ballots and can also allow the harvester to throw out ballots for candidates they oppose.