GOP tries to stop state’s use of ballot drop boxes
Courts are considering three legal challenges
MADISON – The 2022 campaign in Wisconsin is commencing with a concerted effort by conservatives to stop the use of ballot drop boxes.
Republicans on a legislative committee on Monday took a vote that could lead to ballot drop boxes being barred as soon as this spring. Meanwhile, courts are considering three legal challenges to them, with one judge scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday about their use.
State law is silent on drop boxes. Election officials say municipal clerks are free to establish them as they see fit, while some Republicans argued they are prohibited.
Drop boxes have long been available in some Wisconsin communities, but their use expanded greatly in 2020 when absentee voting exploded because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Republicans on the Legislature’s Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules on Monday voted to force the state Elections Commission to adopt formal rules regarding ballot drop boxes.
The move will give Republicans who control the Legislature a chance to block any rules the bipartisan commission adopts.
Some Republicans argue blocking the rules would prevent the use of drop boxes. Some election officials dispute that contention because state law gives local officials broad authority over how they can conduct elections.
At minimum, the maneuver would set up the potential for more lawsuits over drop boxes.
There are already three lawsuits pending over the issue.
In June, two suburban Milwaukee voters represented by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law &
Liberty filed a lawsuit arguing ballot drop boxes are illegal. A hearing in that lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
In November, former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch made similar arguments in a lawsuit she filed directly with the state Supreme Court. The justices have not said whether they will take the case from Kleefisch, a Republican seeking to challenge Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in the fall.
This month, Robert Pellegrini, of Hartland, brought a third lawsuit over drop boxes. As with those who filed the June lawsuit, Pellegrini is represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.
Pellegrini first filed a complaint with the Elections Commission. The commission in December rejected his complaint and he sued to overturn that ruling in Waukesha County Circuit Court.
The state Supreme Court last year declined to take up the issue of ballot drop boxes when it was brought directly to the justices.
In their 4-3 ruling, the justices wrote that cases need to begin before the Elections Commission or lower courts rather than directly with the Supreme Court. The new push against ballot boxes raises the prospect of the justices taking up a case on the issue before the fall elections.
Correcting ballot paperwork at issue
The effort to force the commission to adopt formal rules is spearheaded by state Sen. Steve Nass, a Whitewater Republican who serves as co-chairman of the rules committee.
Nass and other Republicans are also pushing the Elections Commission to adopt rules regarding when clerks can fill in missing addresses for witnesses on absentee ballot paperwork. The commission since 2016 has allowed clerks to fill in that information if they have it.
Often, that assistance consists of clerks writing in a missing city name or ZIP code. Without the witnesses’ addresses, the ballots can’t be counted.
Nass argues the ballot paperwork can be corrected only by the voters and witnesses, not clerks.