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The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on Friday that absentee drop boxes are illegal. The ruling was a significant win for proponents of election integrity.
According to the court’s majority opinion, Wisconsin’s current election statutes required absentee ballots to be delivered in person or delivered personally to the clerk or the clerk’s authorized representative.
Further, the court contended that previous Wisconsin Election Commission memos conflicted with standing statutory requirements by “advising that individuals other than the voter may return the voter’s ballot to the municipal clerk, that unstaffed ballot drop boxes are permissible, and that drop boxes may be located at places other than the municipal clerk’s office or alternate sites.”
According to a report from the Wisconsin State Journal, the court’s ruling upheld an earlier January decision that specified absentee ballots must be delivered by mail or in-person to their local clerk’s office.
The majority opinion also pointed out, “Electoral outcomes obtained by unlawful procedures corrupt the institution of voting, degrading the very foundation of free government. Unlawful votes do not dilute lawful votes so much as they pollute them, which in turn pollutes the integrity of the results.”
Additionally, the court noted that “ballot drop boxes appear nowhere in the detailed statutory system for absentee voting.”
Drop boxes were used across the nation in the 2020 presidential election and continue to be used in many states today following the coronavirus pandemic. According to evidence presented in Dinesh D’Souza’s smash-hit documentary, “2000 Mules,” drop boxes were also the target of a nationwide ballot trafficking conspiracy.
Many Americans now believe that cheating will affect the outcome of the 2022 elections, according to a new report from Rasmussen Reports and the National Pulse. Their survey found that 50 percent of Americans believe there will likely be cheating during the 2022 midterms.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ruling is a major step forward for many who have long decried the lack of security and surveillance on the drop boxes.
“[Ballot] drop boxes can be used for voters to return ballots but clerks should ensure they are secure, can be monitored for security purposes, and should be regularly emptied,” the court added.