Wisconsin absentee ballots; voters to soon use drop boxes again
MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin clerks on Thursday, Sept. 19, will start mailing out absentee ballots to voters who requested one.
Clerks can also open up drop boxes, although one sheriff is warning them not to. However, there are steps to keep your ballot safe.
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Every City of Milwaukee library branch has an absentee ballot drop box right in front. They're closed right now, but soon they'll open.
"In Milwaukee, all of the drop boxes are under 24-hour video surveillance. Pictures are taken before they are opened, after they are shut and then there’s a documented chain of custody that is checked every step of the way," Issue One Senior Advisor Claire Woodall said. "When someone is picking up the ballots from the drop boxes, it’s two people, not just one, independent carrier. And then it’s verified the number of ballots they counted is the number of ballots being returned to the Election Commission."
Woodall is also the former director of the Milwaukee Election Commission.
"Drop boxes are checked every day in the City of Milwaukee, so you can go online to MyVote and on the same day or within 24 hours of returning your ballot, you can go to my vote and see that it is returned," she said.
All Wisconsin absentee ballot drop boxes were closed in 2022, when the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled they broke state law.
Then this July, the now-liberal-controlled court reversed that and decided clerks could use them.
Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt urged clerks in his county not to use them.
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They all agreed.
"That’s going to ensure election integrity in Dodge County," Schmidt said.
He urges other clerks to verify that only the voter is returning their own ballot. The requirement – with some exceptions.
"A very good way to ensure that you have the right person dropping off the ballot box is having something similar to an ATM, something that takes a picture of the individual dropping off the ballot box, the ballot at the drop box," he said. "How else do you ensure that the individual is the person dropping off the ballot, as the Supreme Court requires."
Woodall called his rhetoric "disappointing."
"If you think of drop boxes and how they work, versus a United States Postal Service mailbox, they are very similar, except that there’s more security measures and more documentation with the use of drop boxes," she said.
Soon, Wisconsin voters will help decide who wins the White House, and some of those votes will come to a drop box near you.
Each absentee ballot envelope has a barcode, so you can track if yours is sent out, and if your returned ballot has made it to your clerk.
More information can be found at MyVote WI’s website.