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.
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.
That sounds terrible, I would really look at who you vote for for elections and start spreading the word that what Washington and a lot of other states have is what you want.
Lol yeah, I mean that is definitely the fight here. Those who actually care about it are extremely aware of the situation. Voting accessibility is a big topic, but us being the most severely gerrymandered state in the country is a more pressing concern right now.
The newly flipped state supreme court gives a small glimmer of hope for new maps. Much depends on that.
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.
FYI, we had a Republican running our elections for years and she did a great job with this. She was elected to the position.
Edit: I guess she now works for Biden, interesting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Wyman
I mean, I’d love for more Republicans to work to expand access to voting. But I’m not going to hold my breath, particularly not here in Wisconsin.
You’re forgetting that it’s also possible to vote in person, it’s just not required. Hello, fellow Washingtonian.
Really? I didn’t know that or I forgot. I was here when rhey switched but I don’t remember knowing that. Hello from mf hot Seattle. 🥵
Yep, I had to once when I was sent a ballot for the wrong district. I wasn’t able to vote by mail as a result. Pretty good proof against the whole voting by mail being fraudulent thing.
Also a fellow Seattleite. It is too damn hot.
“By restricting Wisconsin voters’ options for returning their absentee ballots and having those ballots properly counted, the Drop Box Prohibition severely burdens the right to vote,” the lawsuit said in arguing that last year’s ruling should be overturned. “Without the opportunity to drop off their absentee ballots at drop boxes, voters must instead rely on the U.S. Postal Service — and its unsecured mailboxes — to deliver their absentee ballot and simply hope that the ballot arrives by election day.”
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.
