Midwest

Wisconsin Supreme Court new liberal majority reverses ruling that banned most ballot drop boxes in swing state

Published

2 years ago

July 7, 2024

Wisconsin Supreme Court new liberal majority reverses ruling that banned most ballot drop boxes in swing state

The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s new liberal majority reversed a ruling that banned most ballot drop boxes, opening the door for election officials to reinstate their use in the swing state before November.

In July 2022, the state Supreme Court, then under a conservative majority, held that absentee ballot drop boxes, which were used widely during the 2020 election, were not authorized under state statute and, therefore, the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) guidance encouraging their use was unlawful.

That case, known as Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, centered on a state statute that requires an absentee ballot be returned “to the municipal clerk” by one of two ways: by the elector mailing in the envelope or by the elector delivering the ballot in person to the municipal clerk. It upheld that state statute does not allow offsite, unattended drop boxes, and drop boxes could only be placed in local election clerks’ offices and no one other than the voter could return a ballot in person.

In a 4-3 ruling on Friday, the state’s high court reversed course.

ARIZONA ELECTION WORKER CHARGED IN SECURITY-RELATED THEFTS SEEN WITH DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS IN RESURFACED PHOTOS

Poll workers sort out early and absentee ballots at the Kenosha Municipal Building on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

Writing for the majority, Justice Anna Walsh Bradley, one of the court’s four liberal justices, argued that the state statute does not make a distinction between whether ballots can be delivered to inanimate objects, such as drop boxes, whose locations are determined by municipal clerks, or to the municipal clerks themselves.

“Given this, the question then becomes whether delivery to a drop box constitutes delivery ‘to the municipal clerk’ within the meaning of Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b)1,” the majority wrote. “We conclude that it does. A drop box is set up, maintained, secured, and emptied by the municipal clerk. This is the case even if the drop box is in a location other than the municipal clerk’s office. As analyzed, the statute does not specify a location to which a ballot must be returned and requires only that the ballot be delivered to a location the municipal clerk, within his or her discretion, designates.”

All three conservative justices dissented Friday, accusing the majority of politically motivated “activism.”

“Intense partisan politics saturate our nation, exacerbated by a lack of institutional trust,” Justice Rebecca Bradley, who wrote for the minority, said. “The legitimacy of elections continues to be questioned, each side accusing the other of ‘election interference’ and ‘threatening democracy’ or even the very foundation of our constitutional republic. The majority’s decision in this case will only fuel the fires of suspicion.”

“Whatever can be said of the majority’s decision, it ‘is not the product of neutral, principled judging,’” the dissenters said. “Although the majority attempts to package its disagreements with Teigen as legal, the truth is obvious: The majority disagrees with the decision as a matter of policy and politics, not law.”

Residents drop mail-in ballots in an official ballot box outside the Tippecanoe branch library on Oct. 20, 2020, in Milwaukee. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“The members of the majority believe using drop boxes is good policy, and one they hope will aid their preferred political party,” the minority continued. “Teigen upheld the historical meaning of Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b)1., which bars the use of offsite, unmanned drop boxes. The majority in this case overrules Teigen not because it is legally erroneous, but because the majority finds it politically inconvenient. The majority’s activism marks another triumph of political power over legal principle in this court.”

ELECTION OFFICIALS IN ALL 50 STATES URGED TO SEEK INFO FROM BIDEN ADMIN TO PREVENT NONCITIZENS FROM VOTING

In April 2023, Democratic-backed candidate Janet Protaswiecz’s victory flipped the Wisconsin state Supreme Court to liberal control under a 4-3 majority. Seeing an opening, Priorities USA, a progressive voter mobilization group, asked the court in February to revisit the July 2022 decision. The justices announced in March they would review the ban on drop boxes but would not consider any other parts of the case.

The move drew the ire of the court’s conservatives, who accused the liberals of trying to give Democrats an advantage this fall. Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers in April urged the court to again allow drop boxes. Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature also intervened in the case, arguing that the justices should leave the 2022 ruling alone.

Wisconsin again figures to be a crucial swing state after President Biden barely won it in 2020 and Donald Trump narrowly took it in 2016.

An election worker drops a completed ballot into a ballot box inside City Hall on the first day of in-person early voting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Oct. 20, 2020. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump and Republicans have alleged that drop boxes facilitated cheating. Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley weighed in on Friday’s ruling, arguing in a statement that the “new liberal majority on the Supreme Court overturned this recent precedent and opened the floodgates for drop boxes across the state just months before the presidential election.”

“The Court did this after unnecessarily fast-tracking the case to issue this decision before the election,” Whatley said. “Make no mistake: this partisan decision handed down by a partisan Court gives Democrats a green light to dismantle election security safeguards and invite election fraud. The RNC’s unprecedented election integrity operation will continue fighting to ensure drop box safeguards are adopted and implemented.”

Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, who administers elections in Wisconsin’s most Democratic county, argued drop boxes make the election process more convenient and easier for rural and disabled voters and help reduce the number of ballots that arrive after Election Day too late to be counted.

“Secure drop boxes provide a convenient alternative to mailing absentee ballots or returning them in person to an elections clerk,” McDonell said in a statement. “Drop boxes are a common sense tool that Dane County utilized safely and securely for many years prior to the 2022 ban.”

“Having drop boxes in place for the 2024 elections in August and November will encourage civic participation in our democracy,” he added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.

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Midwest

Ilhan Omar doesn’t have any regrets for her ‘unavoidable’ outburst at State of the Union

Published

3 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Ilhan Omar doesn’t have any regrets for her ‘unavoidable’ outburst at State of the Union

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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., spoke candidly on Wednesday, defending her outbursts during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.

Omar, along with colleague Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who was seated next to her, appeared on video repeatedly interrupting and gesturing toward Trump several times throughout his speech.

Omar appeared to shout “You are a murderer” and “You’re a liar.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar, right, with Rep. Rashida Tlaib at her side, spoke at a news conference at the State Capitol. (Renee Jones Schneider/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

When appearing on CNN, Omar was pressed by host Wolf Blitzer, who noted that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., asked members of his caucus to either sit in silence or to not attend at all.

“Should you have just boycotted the address? And do you think you violated the guidelines set out by your own leader?” he asked.

“No, I think it was really unavoidable. The president talked about protecting Americans, and I just had to remind him that his administration was responsible for killing two of my constituents,” Omar responded.

“Do you have any regrets at all about the interaction we played between you and President Trump just last night?” Blitzer asked.

“I do not, and I think many people look at that moment when the president says, ‘It is our responsibility to protect Americans,’ and he does not acknowledge the fact that two Americans, two of my constituents, two of our neighbors, were killed,” she said. “And it was important for me to just remind the American people that the president and his administration was responsible for killing two American citizens.”

Blitzer proceeded to ask, with hindsight in mind, whether she still thinks she made the right choice by showing up.

‘SQUAD’ MEMBER WEARS ‘F— ICE’ PIN ON HOUSE FLOOR DURING TRUMP ADDRESS

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., left, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., shout at President Donald Trump as he delivers his State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“I brought four Minnesotans up as guests for the Minnesota delegation. It was important for us to be there, to bear witness, to hold space for our constituents that have lived through an occupation from federal law enforcement, that have been terrorized, that have seen our neighbors been killed and traumatized in so many ways and, so, no. I think it was really important for my constituents to see me there,” she said.

“It was really important to my constituents to hear that. I was reminding the president that Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed under this administration.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

Democrats have rallied around the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good as a means to criticize ICE and immigration enforcement efforts. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

It responded with a Truth Social post from Trump in which he called for critics like Omar and Tlaib to be put on a boat and “send them back from where they came.”

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

Alexander Hall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Alexander.hall@fox.com.

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Detroit, MI

Rex Satterfield’s 1956 Bel Air takes 2026 Ridler Award in Detroit

Published

5 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Rex Satterfield’s 1956 Bel Air takes 2026 Ridler Award in Detroit

Rex Satterfield hoped to see his 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible snag one of the BASF Great 8 finalist spots at this year’s Detroit Autorama. But winning the Ridler Award — one of the highest honors in the custom car business — was something he didn’t foresee.

“It’s just overwhelming right now,” said the man from Russellville, Tennessee, as he left a ballroom at downtown’s Huntington Place and made his way back to the show floor on Sunday, March 1. “We weren’t expecting this.”

Getting a car recognized as one of the BASF Great 8 vehicles is a win in and of itself as they are considered the “absolute pinnacle of custom automotive craftsmanship worldwide,” according to the show. The cars undergo an intensive judging process.

And this effort had an unexpected and emotional complication with the passing in December 2024 of the original builder, Jeff Wolfenbarger, who was battling cancer even as he continued working on the car named “Elegant Lady.”

Kevin Riffey of Kevin Riffey’s Hot Rods and Restorations in Knoxville stepped in to finish the work Wolfenbarger started. He’d had two other cars in the past make the Great 8. He said the goal with this vehicle was straightforward, calling it a “purpose-built show car.”

From its prominent spot at the front of the show floor, “Elegant Lady” sported a creamy exterior, dubbed Light Coffee. The car carries a 1,000 horsepower Don Hardy race engine. The gauges, wheels and gas tank are custom, and the dash is from a 1956 Pontiac.

Satterfield plans to show the car around some and enjoy the moment with it. He said he’s been a car guy since he was a little kid.

The Ridler Award, named in honor of Detroit Autorama’s first publicist, Don Ridler, comes with a $10,000 prize. It was awarded on the final day of this year’s Detroit Autorama, which ran Friday, Feb. 27-Sunday, March 1. This was the event’s 73rd year.

Eric D. Lawrence is the senior car culture reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Send your tips and suggestions about cool automotive stuff to elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee Weather – Frosty and cold morning, sunny day ahead

Published

6 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

MILWAUKEE – Forecast from FOX6 Meteorologist Lisa Michaels

Frosty Monday morning with temps in the teens inland to low 20s near the lake.
Mostly sunny to sunny skies on Monday. Highs in the mid-40s inland, upper 30s near the lake.
A total lunar eclipse will happen Tuesday morning, total eclipse from 5-6am. It may be tough to see due to increasing clouds.
Increasing clouds on Tuesday with highs in the low 40s. Chance of rain and storms possible Wednesday through Friday with warming temperatures.

Today: 39 Lake. Mostly sunny.
High: 44°
Wind: SE 5-10

Tonight: Partly cloudy this evening, mostly clear overnight.
Low: 27°
Wind: SE 5

Tuesday: 39 Lake. Mostly cloudy.
High: 43°
Wind: E 5-10

Wednesday:41 Lake. Chance for scattered showers and t-storms.
AM Low: 32° High: 45°
Wind: E 5-10

Thursday: 39 Lake. Mostly cloudy. Chance storms.
AM Low: 37° High: 42°
Wind: NE 5-10

Friday: Chance for showers and t-storms Warmer. Warming at night.
AM Low: 37° High: 57°
Wind: SE 5-15

Saturday: Mostly cloudy with AM rain showers. Blustery with falling afternoon temperatures.
AM Low: 47° High: 53°
Wind: NE 5-10

6-day planner

FOX6 Weather Extras

Local perspective:

Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:

FOX6 Storm Center app

FOX LOCAL Mobile app

FOX Weather app

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Big picture view:

Maps and radar

We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.

School and business closings

When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.