TAKE NOTE, AMERICA: Judge Rules Absentee Ballot Drop Boxes NOT ALLOWED in Wisconsin

A County Judge ruled Thursday that drop boxes could not be used to collect absentee ballots under Wisconsin law. “It’s all good and nice, but there’s no authority to do it,” Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren said after the hearing, NPR reported. Bohren agreed with the plaintiff attorney’s argument that state law only allows two ways for absentee ballots to be returned: by mail or in-person at the local clerk’s office.

When returned in person, only the person who cast the vote may do that, Bohren ruled. Under this order, “ballot harvesting” or events such as “Democracy in the Park,” in which election officials collected absentee ballots at more than 200 city parks in 2020, would be prohibited. Bohren also ruled that the Wisconsin Elections Commission had no legal authority to issue such guidance and ordered that the memos must be withdrawn within 14 days. The commission issued guidance in …