A Waukesha County judge on Thursday ruled that absentee ballot drop boxes can no longer be used in Wisconsin elections.
Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren affirmed state law requires absentee ballots to be returned either in person or via mail, not in a ballot drop box.
BREAKING: A Waukesha County judge bars the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin.
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) January 14, 2022
“It’s all good and nice, but there’s no authority to do it,” Bohren said.
Under the ruling, absentee ballot drop boxes mustbe removed from all locations, except local clerks’ offices, with voters only allowed to drop off their ballot to prevent illegal ballot harvesting.
Bohren’s decision follows a lawsuit filed in June by two Milwaukee voters and Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. The conservative law firm argued drop boxes were not permitted by state law.
“Absentee ballots can be cast only by the two methods allowed under § 6.87(4)(b)1: (a) by the voter placing the envelope containing the ballot in the U.S. Mail addressed to the municipal clerk, or (b) the voter handing the envelope containing the ballot in person to the municipal clerk at the office of the municipal clerk or at an alternate site designated under Wis. Stat. § 6.855;” the lawsuit states. “That handing the envelope containing the ballot in person to the municipal clerk means handing it to the actual municipal clerk or to an election official appointed pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 7.30 to act as the authorized representative of the municipal clerk.”
As multi-state investigations continue in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, True the Vote, an election integrity group, has sounded alarms about possible illegal ballot harvesting in the November election.
After the group submitted three official complaints regarding circumstances in the 2020 elections, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger launched an investigation into ballot harvesting in Georgia.
BREAKING: Georgia officials confirm that they have launched an investigation into a ballot harvesting scheme during the 2020 presidential election.
The allegation is corroborated by video evidence and testimony from a witness who claims he was paid for ballots.
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) January 4, 2022
However, the Peach State’s largest counties confessed to discarding valuable video camera surveillance footage that monitored drop boxes during the election.
Nonetheless, the Wisconsin judge’s ruling is another blow to Democrats after another judge recently allowed investigations into the 2020 presidential election to carry on despite Democrat efforts to halt all inquiries.