MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court rules that absentee ballot drop boxes are not allowed under state law.
In a 4-3 decision, Justice Brian Hagedorn ruled on the side of the court’s conservative justices that the Wisconsin Elections Commission was in error when it allowed the use of those drop boxes during the pandemic.
The ruling means ballots must be dropped off at the clerk’s office or mailed.
The court declined to rule on whether or not other people can help deliver those ballots.
Gov. Tony Evers issued the following statement on the decision:
“A basic but defining feature of our state and our country is the notion that politicians should not be able to abuse their power to prevent eligible voters from casting their ballots or cheat by changing the rules just because they didn’t like the outcome of the last election.
“At the very heart of our democracy is the fundamental right for every eligible voter to be able to cast their ballot—a right that’s far too important to be left to the whims of any politician or political party. We should be working every day to protect that fundamental right by making it as easy as possible for every eligible voter to vote in Wisconsin.
“Today’s decision is another in a long line of Wisconsin Republicans’ successes to make it harder for Wisconsinites to exercise their right to vote, to undermine our free, fair, and secure elections, and to threaten our democracy.”
