A coalition of nonpartisan voting rights groups says at least 70 Wisconsin communities are not offering unattended absentee ballot drop boxes this fall. That’s despite a State Supreme Court ruling in July that OK'd the return of the type of boxes used during the 2020 presidential election but did not require mailbox-like containers.
The coalition held a news conference Tuesday in Brookfield to highlight that conservative Milwaukee suburbs do not have the drop boxes.
Brookfield Ald. Mike Hallquist spoke at the event. He says it’s not easy for some people to go inside a building and return an absentee ballot during daylight office hours.
“I’m not too far removed from when my wife and my spouse worked 12-hour shifts at a hospital. So, her ability to meet office work hours was challenging. I’m not too far removed from having two kids in diapers in car seats. So, as my fellow parents will understand, getting kids out of a car and inside to a building, maybe having a line, is a much different experience that simply dropping things off," Hallquist says.
Hallquist says the lack of a drop box may also make it harder for people with disabilities to return a ballot. Brookfield resident Julie Burish says her child is one such person.
“The elimination of voting drop boxes is simply cruel and most likely, and I hate to say this, but most likely a partisan move," Burish says, later telling WUWM that she supports Democrat Kamala Harris for President and says Republicans may be trying to limit the use of the drop boxes.
Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto responded to a request for comment by sending WUWM a city staff report and a letter saying Brookfield has a doorbell at handicapped parking lot stalls outside city hall that people can ring, and staff will come out to collect the ballot. The documents also say Brookfield would have to install a camera at an outdoor drop box currently used for utility and property tax payments and that COVID-19 is no longer a threat like it was four years ago.
Sam Liebert of All Voting is Local Wisconsin says regarding the at least seventy communities in the state not using absentee ballot drop boxes—he sometimes hears it’s a financial or logistical issue.
“But most of them are banning or not using drop boxes because of the big lie that somehow (the) 2020 (election) was stolen, or it was rigged, or there was ballot harvesting going on. It’s simply not true," Liebert says.
There are more than 1,800 municipalities in Wisconsin and no statewide rules on reporting the use of drop boxes. The voting rights coalition says people may have to contact their local clerk to see if the boxes are offered or ask that one be installed outside in an easy-to-access location.
