Wisconsin Needs Voter Drop Boxes

The Wisconsin Supreme Court banned voter drop boxes in a misguided 2022 ruling. Common Cause Wisconsin is joining a lawsuit that seeks to expand options for voters by restoring the use of secure drop boxes to collect absentee ballots.

Here’s what you need to know:

 

What’s a Voter Drop Box?

A drop box is a secure, locked box operated by election officials where voters can deliver their ballots. Drop boxes make voting more convenient, allowing voters to fill out their ballots at home and drop them off on or before Election Day. 

Voter drop boxes are required or broadly accessible in 29 states, including our neighboring states of Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois. Wisconsin is the nation’s only “purple” or non-deep red state that completely bans them.

 

Has Wisconsin Used Voter Drop Boxes Before?

Yes! Wisconsin voters used drop boxes safely and securely across the state from 2016 until 2022. 

In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, the state even expanded the number of drop boxes to offer voters a safe, no-contact way to make their voices heard. The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission authorized this expansion to provide voters with a safe option, partly because the U.S. Postal Service was struggling to keep up with the high volume of mail. 

 

Why Aren’t Drop Boxes Available in Wisconsin Anymore?

In 2022, conservatives attacked the use of secure drop boxes, claiming that the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission’s authorization of their use was insufficient. On July 8, 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court created new barriers to voting, including prohibiting the utilization of voter drop boxes throughout the state. In Teigen v. Wisconsin Election Commission, the Wisconsin Supreme Court broke its own precedent, creating new barriers to the ballot box, and decided that drop boxes cannot be used in upcoming elections. 

Unfortunately, secure voter drop boxes weren’t used during the November 2022 midterm elections, 2023, or thus far in 2024.

 

Now, We’re Fighting to Restore Access to Secure Drop Boxes.

The Teigen v. Wisconsin Election Commission decision was challenged last year, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court will now reconsider its 2022 decision by agreeing to hear the case, Priorities USA v. Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Common Cause Wisconsin, one of the state’s largest nonpartisan political reform advocacy organizations, signed on to an amicus brief submitted in the lawsuit before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. We hope the Court will restore secure voter drop boxes so voters can more easily participate in our elections.