Absentee Ballot dropbox in Wausau. Image courtesy: Mayor Katie Rosenberg/Facebook
MADISON, WI (WSAU) — A Wisconsin appeals court has blocked a lower court decision that restricted the use of absentee ballot dropboxes for upcoming elections.
The 4th District Court of Appeals has issued a stay to the decision by Waukesha County Judge Michael Bohren, meaning that all votes cast through all dropboxes will be counted for February 15th’s primary.
Groups such as the Wisconsin Elections Commission and disability advocates had requested the appeal.
The Appeals Court decision stated that they were blocking the ruling because it could confuse voters who have requested an absentee ballot for that election.
Bohren’s decision had outlawed all ballot dropboxes not installed at a local clerk’s office, such as those placed at a post office or college campus, and stated that only the voter casting the ballot could drop it off at that box.
Dropboxes became a popular way to return during the 2020 midterm election as a large number of people utilized absentee voting to avoid crowded polling places in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were also concerns about the USPS’ ability to process election mail promptly, which had voters looking for a way to return those ballots without taking the risk that it gets lost in the mail or delivered late.
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