State law does not address the ballots, but, in a 4-3 decision Friday, the court’s majority said the absence of an outright ban does not mean they are legal. “Ballots appear nowhere in the detailed statutory scheme for absentee voting,” Judge Rebecca Bradley wrote. The majority ruled that the Wisconsin Board of Elections — a six-member panel that helps oversee voting in the state — overstepped its authority when it directed local election officials to allow drop boxes to return absentee ballots in the 2020 election. at the height of the pandemic. In its ruling, the court said absentee ballots can be dropped off by the voter at the clerk’s office or other designated location — but not at an unmanned ballot box. The justices did not address whether someone can mail a ballot on behalf of another voter — leaving open the possibility of third-party ballot collection. The decision comes about a month before Wisconsin’s Aug. 9 primary election and sets the ground rules for the state’s high-stakes elections this year. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, is seeking a second term and Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican, is up for re-election in a race that could help determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. And the 2024 presidential contest will likely sway the outcome in Wisconsin and a handful of other battleground states. In a statement Friday, Evers called the decision “another in a long line of successes by Wisconsin Republicans to make it harder for Wisconsinites to exercise their right to vote, to undermine our free, fair and secure elections and to threaten democracy us. “ Rick Esenberg — the president of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Freedom, which filed the lawsuit challenging the ballots and collecting ballots on behalf of other voters — said the ruling provides “substantial clarity.” “Wisconsin voters can have confidence that state law, not guidance from the (Wisconsin Board of Elections), has the final say on how elections are conducted in Wisconsin,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter. The Wisconsin Elections Commission’s guidance to ease voting procedures during the pandemic has faced sharp criticism — including calls to break up the bipartisan body — from some Wisconsin Republicans after President Joe Biden narrowly won the state with fewer than 21,000. votes in 2020. Drop boxes have grown in popularity in recent elections in the Badger State: More than 520 ballots were used in the 2020 general election, with that number increasing to 570 in 66 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties by the spring 2021 election, according to the numbers listed in Friday’s decision. This story has been updated with additional information.
