Drop Boxes Can Be Used in Upcoming Wisconsin Primaries: Appeals Court

A Wisconsin appeals court ruled this week that drop boxes can be used in next month’s primary elections, blocking a lower court that concluded that election officials lacked the authority to allow the ballot containers.

The parties appealing the ruling have “more than the mere ‘possibility’ of success on the merits,” a three-judge panel on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled.

Factors weighing in favor of blocking the lower court order include the Feb. 15 primaries already being in progress, the panel said, siding with the Wisconsin Elections Commission and intervenors like Disability Rights Wisconsin.

Forcing the commission to withdraw its guidance to election clerks to put out drop boxes could easily lead to confusion, the panel said. Nearly 8,400 mail-in ballots have already been sent out, and there could be voters who have already deposited them in drop boxes or given them to a family member or friend to mail in.

“If the current guidance is withdrawn at this stage of the election process, there is significant uncertainty as to whether these votes would be counted. Given this situation, the risk of confusion—and possible disenfranchisement—is compelling,” the panel concluded… (Excerpts from the Epoch Times)