Established Fact
The Wisconsin Safe Voting Plan (WSVP) — a grant agreement executed between CTCL and Milwaukee, Madison, Racine, Kenosha, and Green Bay — allocated $216,500 specifically for absentee ballot drop boxes across the five cities. The Waukesha County Circuit Court in Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission (written order January 20, 2022) subsequently ruled that absentee ballot drop boxes lacked any statutory authority under Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b)1, because the statute permits only two methods of absentee ballot return: mail to the municipal clerk, or personal delivery by the voter to the clerk. The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed 4-3 on July 8, 2022, holding that “only the legislature may permit absentee voting via ballot drop boxes” and that WEC’s authorization of drop boxes was unlawful. The Teigen court thus determined that WEC lacked statutory authority to authorize the drop box infrastructure that CTCL funded for the 2020 election, though Teigen was subsequently overruled in 2024 by a reconstituted Wisconsin Supreme Court majority that read the same statute to permit drop boxes. The Wisconsin Legislature’s 2023 impeachment resolution against WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe independently characterized the CTCL-funded drop boxes as unlawful and cited the Teigen ruling as confirmation.
Citations
Wisconsin Safe Voting Plan 2020, submitted by the mayors of Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, and Racine to CTCL, June 15, 2020, Recommendation I, sub-section 2 (Green Bay $50,000; Kenosha $40,000; Madison $50,000; Milwaukee $58,500; Racine $18,000 = $216,500 for absentee ballot drop boxes). Available at: https://www.techandciviclife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Approved-Wisconsin-Safe-Voting-Plan-2020.pdf
Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, No. 2021CV000595 (Waukesha Cty. Cir. Ct.), oral ruling January 13, 2022, written order January 20, 2022. The court held that Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b)1 — requiring absentee ballots be returned by mail to the municipal clerk or personal delivery by the voter to the clerk — does not authorize return to a drop box. The ruling invalidated WEC’s March 2020 and August 2020 guidance memos authorizing drop boxes.
Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, 2022 WI 64, No. 2022AP91 (Wis. July 8, 2022) (4-3 decision; Bradley, J., majority). Majority opinion: “Only the legislature may permit absentee voting via ballot drop boxes. WEC cannot. Ballot drop boxes appear nowhere in the detailed statutory system for absentee voting. WEC’s authorization of ballot drop boxes was unlawful.” Full opinion at: https://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=542617.
Priorities USA v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, 8 N.W.3d 429 (Wis. July 5, 2024) (4-3 decision). The reconstituted Wisconsin Supreme Court expressly overruled Teigen, holding that Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b)1 permits the use of absentee ballot drop boxes. Teigen therefore represents the law as it stood from July 2022 through July 2024 only; it is no longer controlling precedent in Wisconsin. See also Federalist Society State Court Docket Watch summary.
Wisconsin Safe Voting Plan 2020: https://www.techandciviclife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Approved-Wisconsin-Safe-Voting-Plan-2020.pdf | CTCL WSVP document