They are squat, motionless and seemingly harmless. But since the dramatic presidential election of 2020, the humble box has been more than just a receptacle for coupons; they have become a vessel for emotions, suspicions and even conspiracy theories.
Especially in the battleground state of Wisconsin, the mere presence of these curbside containers has inspired political activists and community leaders to conspire against them, call for people to watch them 24/7, and even steal them.
They have been the subject of two state Supreme Court rulings, as well as legal briefs, local council meetings, press conferences and much arm-wringing.
Wausau Mayor Doug Daini was so suspicious of the box outside City Hall that he ran away with it on a Sunday in September, isolating it in his office. According to him, it was not yet fixed on the ground, and so he wanted to keep it safe. The escapade was met with backlash, but also won the mayor a few fans online before he took it back.
“COURAGE IS CONTAGIOUS! GOOD LUCK SPAR!” one person wrote on the conservative social media site Gettr.
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Courtesy of Doug Daini
When early voting begins in November’s election and Wisconsinites receive their coupons, they have a choice about how to return them. Send them by mail. Give them to the municipal clerk in person. Or, in some communities, place them in a box, usually located near a municipal building, library, community center or fire station.
Although election experts say the election is designed to make voting a simple act, using the drop boxes has been far from complicated since the 2020 election, when receptacles in Wisconsin and across the country became hotspots for unfounded conspiracy theories about election fraud. A a discredited but popular documentary — “2,000 mules” — have been linked to ballot scrapping, while backlash has grown over nonprofit funding that helps clerks facilitate voting with a variety of measures, including drop boxes.
The film is distributed by Salem Media Group Inc. withdrew it from circulation in May and in response to the lawsuit issued public apology to a Georgia voter for falsely representing that he had voted illegally. A federal judge dismissed Salem Media Group as a defendant, but the lawsuit continues against the filmmaker and others.
Amidst all the fuss, the conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court banned the boxes in 2022. But this summer, with the court now controlled by liberals, judges ruled them legal, ruling that municipal employees can offer safe boxes in their communities if they choose.
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Images by Scott Bauer/AP
The latest court ruling made it clear that it is up to each municipal clerk to decide whether to offer voter boxes. But the decision did little to change opinion about the boxes or end any confusion about whether they are a boon for democracy or a tool for fraud.
This year, four of Wisconsin’s largest cities are using drop boxes – Milwaukeemadison, Green bay and Racine. But many areas that offered drop-off boxes in 2020, including Kenosha, the state’s fourth-largest city, have decided not to do so this year.
Voters have received mixed messages from right-wing activists and politicians about whether to use ballot boxes as the Republican Party continues to sow distrust in the election while urging supporters to vote early — by all means.
“Look, I’m not a fan of drop boxes, and that’s not surprising, but if you need them, it’s not a bad situation,” Kathryn Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote, which raised questions about the election. integrity and helped inspire “2000 mules,” according to a video posted on social media on September 30. It showed her giving a brief tour of the box in Madison, Wisconsin’s capital and Democratic stronghold.
With the camera pointed at one of the boxes, Engelbrecht praised that “the gap is very small, so that’s good” and that “most of these boxes seem to be near fire stations,” which she also declared a good thing. About a week later, she wrote in a newsletter that True the Vote had gathered the exact locations of the drop boxes across the state and was working to arrange for a live broadcast.
Unlike 2020, when Trump warned use of stampsthis year, he’s urging fans to “vote.” And the Wisconsin Republican Party isn’t discouraging voters from using ballot boxes if they are in their community and are safe.
Still, Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Howde urged citizen watchdogs to keep an eye on the boxes. “Who is watching how many illegal ballots are thrown in?” Howde told supporters in July, according to a recording of his remarks received by The Washington Post. “Look, you’re probably going to have to make sure there’s someone standing by the box everywhere.”
Most boxes are equipped with security cameras. Those surveillance videos could be used as presumptive evidence in court cases if Trump loses on November 5.
Engelbrecht has already filed a public request with the Dane County Clerk’s Office for “copies of the security camera footage used to monitor all exterior and interior ballot boxes in Dane County for the November 2024 election.” The county, of which Madison is the seat, does not have access to camera footage stored by municipalities, the county clerk told ProPublica.
Following a state Supreme Court ruling this year that allowed the use of drop boxes, the Wisconsin Board of Elections issued guidance to the state’s roughly 1,800 municipal officials recommending more than a dozen security practices related to drop boxes.
Instructions include that they must be “attached to the ground or side of a building”, “sturdy enough to withstand the elements”, “located in a well-lit area”, “equipped with unique locks or seals” and “emptied frequently”. .”
The commission recommended that the secretaries keep records of the time and dates of the retrieval of ballots, the number of ballots retrieved, and the names of the people involved in the retrieval.
He also referred clerks to federal guidelines.
But even with the updated guidelines and Wisconsin’s ban on ballot collection (individuals can only cast their own ballots unless they’re helping a disabled person), concerns remain.
In August, in Dodge County, about 60 miles northwest of Milwaukee, Sheriff Dale Schmidt emailed three city clerks telling them he had “serious concerns” about the filing boxes, according to records obtained news site WisPolitics. “I strongly advise you to avoid using the filing box,” he wrote. The sheriff asked the clerks a lot of questions about the boxes, explaining that, “Even if you set up the best way to avoid fraud, many times criminal activity finds ways to thwart even the best laid plans.”
Two clerks, from Shippoon and Beaver Dam, told the sheriff that they would not use them, and the clerk from Hustisford said Wisconsin Public Radio that by the time she received Schmidt’s email, the City Council had already decided not to use the drop box for security reasons. In an email to ProPublica, Schmidt said, “No one was intimidated into not using the boxes, and none of them had heartburn from not using them.”
Brittany Vulich, Wisconsin campaign manager for the nonpartisan voting rights group All Vote Local, is concerned about how mayors, council members and other officials are trying to influence those decisions. She notes that municipal employees—the vast majority of whom are women—are the main election officials in each municipality.
“This undermines their authority. This is an undermining of their office,” she said. “It’s undermining their autonomy in doing their job and deciding whether or not to use the boxes. And that’s very disturbing.”
Other cities also refused.
In the city of Brookfield, the Common Council passed a resolution on Aug. 20 and voted 10-4 not to use the filing box after reviewing a memo from City Attorney Jenna Merten, who found the recommended precautions onerous.
“The manual states that for 24-hour unmanned ballot boxes, the city will require CCTV and video storage, as well as stickers, additional keys and security seals,” she wrote. “It will take at least two people to remove the ballots from the ballot box and the completion of the preservation logs.”
During the debate, Chairman Gary Mahkorn, an opponent of filing boxes, argued that they served a purpose during the COVID-19 pandemic, but then “became a very political issue, and that’s what makes me, you know, sick. .” He is concerned that “the further we get away from the people who trust our elections, the more our democracy is at stake.”
Instead of having dots, the city will have extended voting timefrom 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., most weekdays during in-person voting two weeks before the election.
In Wausau, the box Deeney took to his office is back, bolted to the ground and being used for early voting.
Dini initially resisted pressure from the city clerk and city council members to return it. Clerk Caitlin Bernarde reported the matter to the Marathon County District Attorney’s Office and the state Board of Elections. And Dini arranged for the clerk to return it.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is investigating. There were no charges. Dini told ProPublica that he believes he did nothing wrong, saying, “None of this was done in a nefarious, secret way.”
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Dini tried to force a vote on additional funds for the box’s security. But the council was not interested.
During the public discussion period, residents both praised and criticized the mayor. One local resident stood up and said, “Arguing about the box is stupid.”
