The Wisconsin supreme court appeared prepared on Monday to overturn a ruling banning the use of ballot “drop boxes”, the secured containers for absentee ballots that came under attack in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.
A ruling in the case could have significant consequences for election administration in the battleground state ahead of the 2024 election.
The use of drop boxes, which had been first implemented years before the 2020 election and Covid-19 pandemic, expanded rapidly as election officials searched for ways to keep voting accessible while reducing the spread of the virus. The drop boxes became a source of consternation after the election, though, especially among rightwing activists who doubted their security and falsely claimed the election had been rigged for Joe Biden.