The 2000 Mules theory in action
There is no systematic “ballot harvesting” or voter fraud using drop boxes. But the right is invested in saying that the system is so rife with Democratic cheating that they must restrict voting access to the ballot box by any means necessary just to prove a point. There is no partisan advantage to drop boxes. Their own voters use them too:
A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court barred the use of most ballot drop boxes on Friday and ruled voters could not give their completed absentee ballots to others to return on their behalf,a practice that some conservatives disparage as “ballot harvesting.”
It’s a ruling feared by voting rights proponents, who said ahead of time such a decision would make it harder for voters — particularly those with disabilities — to return their absentee ballots. Many Republicans hoped for a ruling that they said would help prevent someone from casting a ballot in the name of someone else.
The 4-3 ruling came a month before the state’s Aug. 9 primaries, when voters will narrow the fields for governor and U.S. senator. Both contests in this battleground state are being closely watched nationally.
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For years, ballot drop boxes were used without controversy across Wisconsin. Election clerks greatly expanded their use in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic as absentee voting hit unprecedented levels.
By the time of the presidential election, more than 500 ballot drop boxes were in place across Wisconsin. Some Republicans balked at their use, pointing to a state law that says an absentee ballot must “be mailed by the elector, or delivered in person, to the municipal clerk issuing the ballot or ballots.”
The state’s high court on Friday ruled that means voters themselves must return absentee ballots and cannot use drop boxes.