Despite being reinstated, many Coulee Region municipalities will not use ballot drop boxes

LA CROSSE (WKBT) -- After a two-year ban, absentee ballot drop boxes are legal again in Wisconsin. However, not every voter in the Coulee Region will have access to them for the Aug. 13 primary election.

That's because some municipalities are deciding they're better off without them.

Ballot drop boxes are a point of conflict in Wisconsin politics — all starting in 2020.

"There was significant use of absentee balloting and a significant use of drop boxes for people to return their ballots and that was of course a result of the pandemic," said Anthony Chergosky, a political science professor at UW-Madison.

Every big election in Wisconsin is nail-bitingly close. In 2020, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by just over 20,000 votes. Despite no evidence, Trump claimed election fraud.

"Drop boxes then get lumped into all of the controversies surrounding the 2020 election," Chergosky said.

Following concerns from Republicans over election security, Wisconsin's conservative Supreme Court banned the boxes in 2022.

That didn't last long once the court flipped to liberal control.

"The Wisconsin state Supreme Court then gave the issue of drop boxes a fresh look and decided they are good to go."

Now that they're legal again, some municipalities jumped to reinstate them.

"We thought because we have this measure in place and available for our voters we decided to reimplement it once the decision was made," said Sparta City Clerk Jennifer Lydon.

Security is a top priority for her.

"Our secured drop box is located on the side of our building, it is locked. There are two people that access that ballot box and it is also under video surveillance."

Trempealeau and Onalaska will also use drop boxes this August. Onalaska's City Clerk Jo Ann Marcon said they reinstated their drop boxes to give voters a secure and convenient option.

In a statement sent to News 8 Now, Marcon wrote: "Drop boxes reduce barriers for voters who want to avoid using the postal service due to concerns about delays or due to their work schedules are unable to hand deliver their ballot to the clerk’s office."

Other municipalities are hesitant. Places like Holmen and Tomah will accept ballots put in their utility payment drop boxes but prefer people to submit them in person.

La Crosse and West Salem have drop boxes but are not using them for the upcoming primary. Officials with both municipalities said could change for the November election, though.

Meanwhile, Viroqua said they don't use drop boxes anymore.

"I think we can add this to the list of issues that have gained a lot of debate in the state of Wisconsin," Chergosky said.

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