The Capitol Report

By WisPolitics.com

Despite the Supreme Court decision in July restoring local clerks’ ability to have unstaffed absentee ballot drop boxes, some smaller and more rural communities in GOP parts of the state are choosing not to use them this fall.

In 2022, the former conservative majority on the court had barred the use of drop boxes unless they were at a local clerk’s office, a decision which the current liberal majority reversed.

Some clerks interviewed by WisPolitics cited logistical and cost reasons to not use drop boxes. Others cited a lack of need due to the options to mail in ballots or return them in person.

Some cities and villages had concerns about the security of drop boxes, in addition to worries about maintaining a consistent message to voters about whether or not drop boxes were available.

“The money was the big thing that did it,” said Black River Falls City Clerk Brad Chown. Black River Falls, which is not using drop boxes, is in Jackson County in western Wisconsin and has a population of around 3,500. Former President Donald Trump won Jackson County in 2020. “We felt they were secure, just expensive.”

Wisconsin Republicans are pushing conservative voters to cast their ballots early through absentee ballots in an attempt to secure more votes. But many areas that historically vote Republican are choosing not to use drop boxes, including over concerns about security.

That could mean more absentee ballots in conservative areas are returned late. When drop boxes weren’t allowed in 2022, more than 1,600 absentee ballots arrived at clerks’ offices after the deadline of election day. By comparison, in fall 2020 twice as many people voted absentee as in 2022, but only 689 ballots arrived after the deadline according to court records.

Some communities have banned the use of drop boxes altogether, including Union Grove and Yorkville in Racine County and Brookfield and New Berlin in Waukesha County. Trump won both Racine and Waukesha counties in 2020.

For Hartland President Jeff Pfannerstill, the decision not to use drop boxes was about security.

“I know that [drop boxes] aren’t secure,” he said. Hartland is home to around 9,500 Wisconsinites in Waukesha County.

Pfannerstill said he thought ballots should go directly to a clerk.

“Ballots should be handled like cash. The less hands they're going through, the less chance there is that all of a sudden something gets screwed up,” he said.

He said that the available options of sending absentee ballots through the mail or returning them in person were sufficient, and that “no one's being disenfranchised.”

Medford City Clerk Ashley Lemke said the city was still deciding whether to use drop boxes, due to uncertainty around whether the boxes would continue to be allowed. Medford, the county seat of Taylor County in north-central Wisconsin, has a population of around 4,300.

Trump won Taylor County in 2020 as well.

“If there's a court decision determining that now you can't use them, it's hard to communicate that information out,” Lemke said.

She also said that using drop boxes might also put an increased burden on the city’s elections commission to alleviate potential mistrust in the drop boxes from voters.

“A lot of [voters] have the mistrust of them, because of a lot of the things that fly around regarding elections that are not fact-checked beforehand,” Lemke said. “Even if it's making their life easier, people don't like change.”

In other cities and villages, clerks are planning to use drop boxes, saying they offer convenience to voters and election staff.

“There's times when people work and they're not able to drop [their ballot] off until after 4:30 or on the weekend,” said Lancaster City Clerk David Kurihara, who said the drop box in Lancaster is under video surveillance by a security camera. Lancaster, a city of around 3,900 people, is the county seat of Grant County in southwest Wisconsin which was won by Trump in 2020. “I think [voters] are not concerned with something fraudulent going on.”

Meanwhile, most of the state’s five largest cities are using absentee ballot drop boxes for the November election, including Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay and Racine, while Kenosha has decided against them.

Kenosha City Clerk and Treasurer Michelle Nelson told WisPolitics the decision is based on a July “Best Practices” memo from the Wisconsin Elections Commission about physical security of drop boxes. The memo states it does not constitute guidance.

“Relative to this, my main concerns are security against tampering and weather,” Nelson said.

She also said she had concerns about staffing, budget and use of the drop boxes since the 2020 presidential election, during which Kenosha used six ballot drop boxes around the city.

Madison’s website lists a total of 14 drop boxes located at fire stations around the city for voters to return absentee ballots, along with the option to return ballots to the city clerk’s office, via in-person absentee voting sites and in-person at voters’ polling sites on Election Day.

Madison Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl did not return requests for comment seeking more details about the city’s use of drop boxes.

Milwaukee has 15 drop boxes located at various locations around the city, according to the city’s website — 14 of which will be used during the November election. Only 13 are currently in use because one is being repaired. Voters can also return their ballots by mail, in-person at an Early Voting Center and in-person locations on Election Day.

The drop boxes in Milwaukee are “secure specialized heavy-duty steel ballot drop boxes that are permanently anchored in place,” according to the city’s website. Trained election officials operate the drop boxes to ensure they are properly secured, emptied and locked, and there is 24-hour surveillance of all ballot drop boxes.

Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutierrez did not return requests for comment seeking more information.

Green Bay Clerk Celestine Jeffreys told WisPolitics the city will also be using drop boxes, but plans to reduce the number from five in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to one for the November election.

Jeffreys said the change was made in order to “implement a sustainable management and collection process” with one centrally located drop box.

Racine City Clerk Tara McMenamin said Racine will be using drop boxes at seven locations in the city, including the Racine Public Library and all but one community center. She said the drop box in front of City Hall is used most. All drop boxes in Racine will be monitored with 24-hour security cameras, and the city will be using security seals on the drop boxes.

McMenamin said Racine already used drop boxes in the August primary and does not currently have safety concerns about the November election, but the city is “taking the precautions we can.”

The Capitol Report is written by the editorial staff at WisPolitics.com, a nonpartisan, Madison-based news service that specializes in coverage of government and politics and is distributed for publication by members of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.

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