The plague-year election of 2020 was a superspreader for bad precedents, and the hazmat cleanup is still going. At least 528 ballot drop boxes were set up that year in Wisconsin, following some guidance memos on the subject from the state elections commission. On Friday the state Supreme Court held 4-3 that such drop boxes are unlawful.
The statute book says absentee ballots “shall be mailed by the elector, or delivered in person, to the municipal clerk.” As the majority opinion wryly points out: “An inanimate object, such as a ballot drop box, cannot be the municipal clerk.” Although drop boxes were meant to make voting easy, the majority is correct: “Good intentions never override the law.”
