The Sconi

The Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a pivotal voting rights decision today, which will be in effect for the August primary and November general election this year. The 4-3 decision in Priorities USA v. Wisconsin Elections Commission overturns a July 2022 ruling by the same court (also 4-3) that prohibited the use of secure voter drop boxes. These drop boxes had been widely used throughout Wisconsin to safely return absentee ballots.

Common Cause Wisconsin (CC/WI), the state's largest nonpartisan political reform advocacy organization with over 8,800 members and activists statewide, joined an amicus brief to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in May. Penny Bernard Schaber, Co-Chair of CC/WI and a former Wisconsin State Representative from Appleton, stated, "Reinstating the use of secure ballot drop boxes is good for all of us in Wisconsin. It is especially good for individual voters who have mobility issues and time constraints that make it difficult for them to go into and out of a polling place or an election clerk’s office." She added, "Secure ballot drop boxes are a necessary and safe way to return our ballots."

Voter drop boxes have been utilized since before 2016. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, their number expanded to 570 across 66 of Wisconsin's 72 counties. This expansion was authorized by the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) to provide voters with a more convenient and safe method to ensure their absentee ballots were returned on time amid concerns about timely delivery by the U.S. Postal Service.

In early 2022, conservatives challenged the use of secure drop boxes, claiming that WEC's authorization was insufficient. On July 8, 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court prohibited voter drop boxes statewide in its narrow ruling in Teigen v. Wisconsin Election Commission. As a result, secure voter drop boxes were not used during the November 2022 midterm elections or any subsequent elections.

CC/WI disagreed with the 2022 court decision and welcomed the opportunity to join efforts to overturn it this year.

Currently, voter drop boxes are required or broadly accessible in 29 states including neighboring Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois. They are also used with some limitations in Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio. With this new ruling from the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Wisconsin can now join these states in allowing secure ballot drop boxes to enhance access to voting.

"This is a happy landmark day marking the restoration of voting rights in Wisconsin," concluded CC/WI.