2y ago

National Democrats file absentee ballot lawsuit in Wisconsin ahead of state Supreme Court flip

A new lawsuit filed in Wisconsin by a national Democratic law firm seeks to once again allow voters to return absentee ballots in drop boxes, a practice that was barred by the state Supreme Court last year following criticism by former President Donald Trump.

21 comments

Wisconsinite here.
Not having the drop boxes has been super annoying.
My wife and I both work full time, and we have little kids. Having the ability to both fill out our absentee ballots and then one of us drop it off was really really helpful for getting our ballots to a place we knew it would be counted.
Instead our options now are to mail it (which is fine but as pointed out by OP, this is not maybe the most reliable or dependable since there is not a guarantee it gets there in time or at all), or to physically bring our ballots to city hall (which we have to each find time to do separately during business hours).
I would love to have the drop boxes back.
- So does your state have everyone use mail in votes like my state or do you have to sign up for absentee? I'm trying to spread the word on the different types of voting, I don't think people are aware that standing in line isn't the only way to go.
  In the state of Washington,
  everyone votes by mail with drop off boxes or free mail in
  you get a pamphlet with all the candidates (including federally) that includes their goals.
  we have propositions that have both sides discussed and a rebuttal.
  it has a bar code that tracks where it is.
  
  No, it is not automatic. You need to register for absentee voting for every election. You can do it for a full calendar year's worth of elections, but no more. If you miss turning it in (for instance, one year we ended up just going to the polls because we missed getting it in the mail on time), they automatically unregister you and you have to redo it.
  So yes there is tracking per voter, which only really starts after they receive it.
  We get no candidate information as part of this.
  
  You have to sign up. Every attempt to expand access to voting is like pulling teeth from the gerrymandered, near-supermajorty conservative state legislature here. What Washington has is great, but there's no way that's happening in Wisconsin any time soon.
  
  You're forgetting that it's also possible to vote in person, it's just not required. Hello, fellow Washingtonian.
- If they can’t reduce the amount of voters they will lose.
It's really a signal that the US has become a sliding democracy when the court system is so politicized. Judge nomination should never be dependent on politicians, and it should be based on merit of their career and formation to become a judge.
As it is, there is no clear separation of judicial power from political power. As for Wisconsin: hopefully the situation will change there, and the new court majority will break the current gerrymanders to make the state a democracy again.
- Strongly agreed. To give a comparison, I'm a decently well informed Canadian. I don't know any of the judges in the Canadian Supreme Court. I can name every single one of the American Supreme Court judges and the various issues with several of them. The difference is night and day.
  
  Exactly. It's crazy.
All absentee ballots should be ended.
- Why shouldn't those deployed in the service of their country get to have their say in the vote? Those votes come as absentee ballots.
- I agree. Everyone should be voting by mail.

21 comments