As I See It
Drop box debate unnecessary and dangerous
It was July when, after much legal wrangling, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that ballot drop boxes are legal in the state once again. Predictably, that was not the final word on the issue. Conspiracy theorists continue to argue that placing a completed ballot in a drop box outside city hall, even while under 24/7 surveillance, is somehow ripe for fraud. In fact, it has gotten silly. Even though local clerks throughout the state have the court’s authority to restore the use of drop boxes, some are hesitant. In Dodge County, the sheriff told clerks they should not use drop boxes, even though they are legal and even though the clerks have the authority to decide. He warned that using drop boxes could degrade trust in our system. Not coincidentally, that sheriff has endorsed Donald Trump for President. Looks like he is the one sowing seeds of distrust. Same for Senate candidate Eric Hovde, who is calling for manned drop box monitoring in Madison. Some on social media have left ominous posts, like one calling for observers to follow absentee voters home from the drop box, and post their address on Telegram. That is wrong, and dangerous. To be clear, the use of drop boxes in Wisconsin is perfectly legal, but some just can’t take yes for an answer.
Greg Symons
September 16, 2024 at 6:46 am
Never understood why the push for drop boxes. The argument is convenience. But how is that more convenient than dropping in a mailbox? Could it be that if fraud is caught when using a mailbox it constitutes mail fraud and then is a federal crime? Since these drop boxes are outside city hall, why not take ballots inside to the clerks office? After dark huh? Well no crimes are committed after dark. During the last presidential election it was reported a large percentage of surveillance systems didn’t work. Oh well, people never cheat the government, what could go wrong?
Roy
September 16, 2024 at 9:04 am
Scott,
There are a considerable number of people who distrust any ballots outside the voting places. There is merit in their concerns since voters are checked for ID and asked to sign in confirming their presence when they vote at voting precincts. If these formalities are accepted and used by the majority of voters as they have been for generations, why are liberals so insistent that ballots be allowed to be dropped off? Anything that opens the door to doubts, as many solid citizens have (these are not conspiracy kooks), further divides us as a nation. The sheriff you mention is by nature suspicious of fraud, as he is trained to be. If he supports Trump, does that make him a lesser authority? I hope you don’t believe that.
Bart
September 16, 2024 at 4:17 pm
Does Wizm have a person that answers the phone ?
Michael Kopski
September 17, 2024 at 6:32 am
Good Morning
It sounds as though you can only see one side of things Sir. For generations we did without drop boxes, and there were no concerns with the vote. Then COVID struck and the boxes were established to keep everyone safe, but with controversy for ballot harvesting by the left. We can do without the boxes, to keep everyone from thinking the vote in general is tainted. Let’s stop the divide in our Country. This the United States, not Nicaragua, or El Salvador .
Tom
September 17, 2024 at 8:42 am
Was that a Liberal (come on – Democrat) WI Supreme Court that made that ruling? Huumm? Why? Oh and, is this not the same Court that ruled the re-drawing of WI Legislative maps after the SCOTUS ruled WI maps were already constitutional? Huumm? Why would a lower Court defy the SCOTUS? Huumm?
Vote Brad Schimel in April ’25 for WI SC.
Mike Hochertz
September 17, 2024 at 1:25 pm
Why have drop boxes? Remove the controversy get back to clean voting. We are issuing licenses to individuals who are not citizens but only “Residents”.
Where is the democracy, we have a Biden/Harris administration that kept a democratic candidate off the ballot (RFK Jr.) and then placed VP Harris in without any votes or primary. Now we have “DROP BOXES”