On Friday morning, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin gave their opinion in Richard Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, dealing a massive victory for election integrity. The court ruled that ballot drop boxes are illegal under the laws of Wisconsin, and further declared that all elections which involve the use of ballot drop boxes ought to be considered illegitimate.
“If elections are conducted outside the law, the people have not conferred their consent on the government. Such elections are unlawful and their results are illegitimate” the court declared in their ruling, comparing the use of drop boxes with other illegitimate elections in Cuba or North Korea.
“The record indicates hundreds of ballot drop boxes have been set up in past elections… and thousands of votes have been cast via this unlawful method, thereby directly harming the Wisconsin voters” the court continued.
The ruling also declared that voters must return their own absentee ballots, rather than have one person return large quantities of ballots. The newly banned practice has previously raised eyebrows, as it made the illegal and fraudulent practice of ballot harvesting much more likely to occur. The courts’ opinion finally clarified that “Wisconsin’s election statutes require that to return an absentee ballot in person, voters must personally deliver their ballot to the clerk or the clerk’s authorized representative.”
Wisconsin officially voted for Biden in 2020, after voting for Donald Trump in 2016. The use of ballot drop boxes and widespread potential for ballot harvesting have both been widely cited as a major reason for Biden’s victory in the state. Their use has remained a primary reason for concern among those skeptical of the official results.
The decision is a major victory for Republicans and supporters of election integrity, just in time for the 2022 midterms. In such a pivotal swing state, the ruling will hopefully have positive, far-reaching effects in future elections.
This Wisconsin Republican Party cheered the ruling, noting the long abuse of drop boxes by Democrats. Meanwhile, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, who stands to lose from this ruling in his upcoming reelection bid, lamented the decision as an ‘attack on the right to vote.’
The ruling is set to go into effect immediately.
