CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Today’s Conley Commentary looks at ballot drop boxes. It’s a three-facts-Thursday.
Fact one: Ballot drop boxes are not a part of Wisconsin election law. That’s important because election law isn’t made by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the group that overstepped its bounds by saying drop boxes were okay because of COVID. Election law is made by the state legislature and signed by the governor.
Fact two: State law says absentee ballots must be mailed, once witnessed and signed by someone other than the voter, or handed-in – in person – to an election official, usually your municipal clerk. Why is that important? To prevent ballot harvesting. If someone were to show up at the clerk’s office with 100 ballots, they’re breaking the law. Put the same 100 ballots into a dropbox in the middle of the night… they’d be counted as legal votes.
Fact three: Ballot harvesting has taken place, on a large scale, in Wisconsin. The interim report from Judge Michael Gabelman contains interviews and transcripts with nursing home residents who were told they had to vote; and then someone – a political operative – “helped” them fill out their ballots. There are cases of nursing homes that had 100-percent turnout last fall, including voters with dementia, who no longer know their own name, but somehow managed to request a ballot and use it.
Ballot drop boxes have been blocked by a temporary order from the state Supreme Court. But earlier this month, the swing vote, Justice Brian Hagedorn, asked whether a dropbox would be legal if the slot went directly into the clerk’s office. The answer: well, remember today’s three facts. Drop boxes aren’t approved by the legislature, they don’t allow an election official to see who is delivering the ballot, and they don’t stop ballot harvesting. That’s why ballot drop boxes need to be ruled, once and for all, as illegal in Wisconsin.
I’m Chris Conley.
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