Ballot drop boxes were available for years in some Wisconsin communities, and their use was greatly expanded for the 2020 presidential election as voters turned to absentee voting because of the covid-19 pandemic. Top Wisconsin Republicans supported them at the time but turned against them after Joe Biden narrowly beat President Donald Trump in the state.
Four months before the 2022 midterm elections, conservatives who then controlled the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of a group of voters who argued that ballot drop boxes could not be used because state law did not specifically authorize them. A year later, voters elected a liberal to replace a retiring conservative justice, ending conservatives’ 15-year control of the court.
Soon afterward, the liberal group Priorities USA sued to bring back ballot drop boxes, and on Friday, the majority agreed with the group.
State law says absentee ballots must be returned by mail or in person. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, writing for the majority, said ballot drop boxes provide a way to deliver ballots in person because the drop boxes are maintained by election officials.
The majority had to overturn the 2022 decision because its analysis in that case “was not merely wrong, but was unsound in principle,” she wrote.
Justice Rebecca Bradley, writing for the dissenters, said the court was acting politically and should have stuck by the two-year-old precedent.
“When judges … indulge their preferences, every case is on the table as new judges take the bench, displacing the rule of law with the whim of judges,” wrote Bradley, who is not related to Justice Ann Walsh Bradley.
Supporters of drop boxes cheered the ruling for giving voters an easy way to return ballots so they can be counted. Critics say the legislature should determine whether they are allowed and, if it does, set rules to ensure they are properly monitored and evenly distributed around the state.
“It’s a big victory for voters across Wisconsin,” said David Fox, who argued the case for Priorities USA. “It restores for them the ability to use drop boxes to return absentee ballots reliably, conveniently, securely.”
The decision leaves it to local officials to decide whether to use drop boxes. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, a Democrat, quickly announced that the city planned to make them available starting with the state’s August primary. Other areas with large populations of Democratic voters are also expected to embrace the ruling.
The decision could create political challenges for local leaders in Republican areas. Trump for years has disparaged absentee voting but some of his allies have begun to encourage the practice. Brian Schimming, the chairman of the state Republican Party, condemned the ruling even though he has championed early voting.
“In a setback for both the separation of powers and public trust in our elections, the left-wing justices on the Supreme Court of Wisconsin have obeyed the demands of their out-of-state donors at the expense of Wisconsin,” Schimming said in a written statement.
Friday’s decision offered a reminder of how judicial elections can quickly change the direction of a state. Just months after conservatives won a majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court in 2022, they reversed recent liberal decisions by approving a voter ID law and reinstating a Republican gerrymander.
In Wisconsin, control of the court will be up for grabs in April because Ann Bradley is not seeking reelection. Before she leaves, the court is expected to decide whether abortions can continue in the state.
The court this week agreed to review a decision by a trial court judge that said a 19th century law does not ban most abortions. Separately, it accepted a case filed by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin that asks it to declare that the state constitution guarantees a right to abortion. A ruling in the group’s favor could have implications for a host of long-standing abortion restrictions, such as the state’s 24-hour waiting period.
Meanwhile, a fight looms over a 2011 law that all but eliminated collective bargaining for most public workers in Wisconsin. On Wednesday, a trial judge ruled that parts of the law violate the state constitution because it treats unions for police officers and firefighters differently than unions for most other government employees. That case is expected to make it to the high court, but it’s unclear if it will get there before or after next year’s election for a seat on the court.
The labor law, known as Act 10, led to massive protests and an attempt to remove Gov. Scott Walker (R) from office. Walker became the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall election and served two terms before losing his 2018 reelection bid.
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