The Sconi

The head of a statewide voting group has praised a ruling by Waukesha Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren that drop boxes for absentee ballots are illegal because state law allows ballots to be returned in person or by mail only.

Ron Heuer, president of the Wisconsin Voter Alliance (WVA), told The Sconi that he was “very pleased” with the judge’s decision, and that it “bodes well” for their cases recently filed in five circuit courts (in Brown, Milwaukee, Dane, Kenosha and Racine counties). 

During the 2020 presidential election, Brown (Green Bay), Kenosha and Racine voters backed former President Donald Trump while Milwaukee and Dane (Madison) voters backed Democrat Joe Biden.

The WVA is appealing a complaint rejected in December by the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC). It alleges that leading up to the November 2020 general election, officials in the counties took millions in outside, private money under the false pretense of securing safe elections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The WVA argues that the money actually funded a Democratic get out the vote campaign in the 2020 election. The money, $8.8 million in all, was granted to the officials by the nonprofit Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), which is staffed by former Democratic operatives. Flush with nearly $400 million in donations from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, CTCL spread the money around to Democratic areas in battleground states, the Alliance alleges.

One of the demands by CTCL in exchange for the funding was the expanded use of mail ballots and drop boxes. In Wisconsin drop box locations grew to more than 500 for the 2020 elections, according to the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.

CTCL funds, Heuer said, were inequitably distributed, with Democratic strongholds receiving much higher amounts per voter.

“Kewaunee County, where WVA is based, received $2.72 per voter and Green Bay got $36 per voters,” he said. “Early on some places got nothing from CTCL but we filed a suit in federal court in October before the election and they knew we are on to them. They threw some money at the more rural counties.”

Kewaunee backed Trump with more than 65% of the vote.

On Thursday the WEC, joined by Disability Rights Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, appealed Bohren’s decision. An emergency hearing was scheduled for Friday afternoon.