This post originally appeared at https://reforminggovernment.org/court-overrules-past-rulings-allows-ballot-dropboxes/

What Happened: On July 5 the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned its own 2022 Teigen decision that held the use of ballot dropboxes was inconsistent with state statute.  Writing for the majority, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley held as follows: “We conclude that Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b)1. allows the use of ballot drop boxes. For the reasons set forth below, we determine that the court’s contrary conclusion in Teigen was unsound in principle, and as a consequence, we overrule it. Our decision today does not force or require that any municipal clerks use drop boxes. It merely acknowledges what Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b)1. has always meant: that clerks may lawfully utilize secure drop boxes in an exercise of their statutorily-conferred discretion.”  Justice Rebecca Bradley dissented, stating the majority “ends the term by loosening the legislature’s regulations governing the privilege of absentee voting in the hopes of tipping the scales in future elections.”

Why it Matters: With local municipal clerks now forced to implement policies allowing for the use of dropboxes (for those municipalities that had previously allowed for their use), the Wisconsin Election Commission today issued guidance to clerks, advising them to take necessary steps to ensure the boxes are secure, such as securely affixing them to the ground or the side of a building to ensure they can’t be removed or tampered with.