MADISON, Wisc. — The new liberal majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday questioned its conservative members’ past decision to bar state clerks from using absentee ballot drop boxes in a case that could impact turnout in a key swing state this November.
Wisconsin’s highest court heard arguments Monday in a lawsuit backed by Democrats that seeks to overturn the court’s decision under its previous conservative majority that said state law does not allow drop boxes to be placed outside of an election clerk’s office and another ruling that prohibited clerks from filling in missing address information on absentee ballots.
“What if we just got it wrong?” said Justice Jill Karofsky, one of four members of the court’s liberal majority, referring to the court’s prior decision. “What if we made a mistake? Are we now supposed to just perpetuate that mistake into the future?”
The Wisconsin court in the coming weeks will decide whether to reinstate the use of absentee drop boxes, just before voters are set to cast ballots in the next presidential election featuring a rematch of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.