Remember the controversy during the 2020 election over the use in some states of unmonitored, insecure (and often illegal) ballot drop boxes? A lawsuit on the issue in what could be a crucial swing state in 2024 is set to open on Monday in their Supreme Court–and it now has the support of both state and national Republicans. More on that in a minute.
via Democracy Docket:
The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hold oral argument on Monday to decide whether election officials can reinstate secure ballot drop boxes for the 2024 election.
At next week’s argument, the state Supreme Court’s majority-liberal bench will consider whether to overturn a July 2022 decision in Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, which resulted in a statewide prohibition on the use of drop boxes.
In Teigen, the court’s then-conservative majority held that drop boxes are unauthorized under Wisconsin law and concluded that voters may only return absentee ballots via mail or in person to a municipal clerk. “An inanimate object, such as a ballot drop box, cannot be the municipal clerk,” the opinion stated.
As I mentioned, the Republican National Committee and the state GOP have joined the lawsuit, releasing a statement this week on the move. It read, in part:
The RNC, RPW, and RITE PAC have filed an amicus brief in Wisconsin to uphold the law – and legal precedent – which bans the use of ballot drop boxes in the Badger State. The Democrats are attempting to implement last minute changes which will undermine election security.
Our sister site Townhall.com wrote about some of the background on the case, along with more from the RNC’s statement:
In July 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled the drop boxes were not allowed to be used in future elections.
“The rule of law should not be undermined by Democrats attempting to overrule a case which was decided just two years ago. Wisconsinites deserve a fair and secure election, not a rushed effort to throw out precedent and implement a system susceptible to dishonesty and fraud. The RNC and our partners are stepping up to protect voter confidence in Wisconsin,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said about the effort.
You can read the full statement here.
Unfortunately, the Democrats managed to flip the Wisconsin Supreme Court from Republican control in a primary race, helped along by the retirement of one conservative judge, as my colleague Ben Kew wrote in April:
The Democrat-backed candidate defeated her conservative opponent in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election of Wisconsin Tuesday night, giving the left a majority over the body that determines critical issues such as abortion and election integrity.
In a contest that smashed spending records for state judicial elections, Daniel Kelly, a former justice of the state Supreme Court, lost to Janet Protasiewicz, a circuit court judge from Milwaukee County, by approximately 10 points.