Those involved in a Wisconsin court case dealing with the usage of drop boxes for absentee ballots in the state are continuing the fight despite a recent ruling from the state Supreme Court outlawing the usage of most of the boxes.
There’s no record of recent systematic fraud issues with drop boxes for absentee ballots, no matter the court’s decision. Likewise, there’s no real-world evidence from anything in this case pointing to systematic problems in the 2020 presidential election in the state that would’ve changed the outcome. The case in which the state Supreme Court ruled was originally brought by opponents of the usage of drop boxes, after which point interests including Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, and Disability Rights Wisconsin basically joined the case on the opposite side, arguing for the allowance of the secure and effective drop boxes. After the state Supreme Court’s ruling against using almost all drop boxes, those three groups filed a motion asking the court to reconsider.
“[Disability Rights Wisconsin] has asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to reconsider its decision that ballot drop boxes are illegal under current Wisconsin election law,” the voting rights organization Democracy Docket reported. Trump called Wisconsin state Assembly Speaker Rep. Robin Vos (R) after the Wisconsin Supreme Court released its ruling, pushing the prospect of invalidating the state’s 2020 election outcome to the state legislative leader. (Joe Biden won the state.) Vos refused the idea and said he indicated to the then-president that such wasn’t even legally possible — and predictably, Trump subsequently tore into Vos in posts on his alternative social media platform known as Truth Social. Speaking of certain local voters, Vos remarked: “They’ve been told they can decertify the election. They can’t. My primary opponent continues to say something we know is legally impossible and, unfortunately, some people are so frustrated with Washington they would do whatever it takes to turn around the country.”
Relatedly, there’s also a new federal lawsuit tied to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s recent actions. A group of disabled voters filed the case against Wisconsin authorities over the state Supreme Court’s conclusion the only person who can return a voter’s ballot in-person is that voter. As previously reported here, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ruling didn’t address who can return absentee ballots through the mail, but if there’s reason for allowing other voters to essentially freely access — within the parameters of state law — multiple options for returning absentee ballots, then why not disabled voters in Wisconsin? “Federal law guarantees that voters with disabilities enjoy full and equal access to state voting programs and thus that they are entitled to ballot-return assistance,” the case insists. Those responsible for the federal case hope to re-establish the legal allowance for caregivers and family members to help disabled voters with returning absentee ballots to the extent previously permitted.
⚖️COURT UPDATE: @drwisconsin has asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to reconsider its decision that ballot drop boxes are illegal under current Wisconsin election law. https://t.co/eYDzbLuO9W
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) July 28, 2022
Image: Gage Skidmore/ Creative Commons
