The administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission says ballot drop boxes can be another “secure option” for voters during the presidential election.

However, it appears fewer communities across the state are using them this year.

Drop boxes have been the subject of a series of legal battles in the state. In 2022 the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that they were illegal. Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed that 2022 decision and ruled that municipal clerks have the option to provide them for voters.

During a press conference Wednesday, Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said clerks have reported there are 78 individual drop boxes in use so far this year. She said that’s down from around 500 in 2020 when drop boxes were a popular option for voters during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

After the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision this year, the commission issued suggested guidance for municipal clerks for their ballot box use, which said the boxes should be affixed to the ground and should be in a well-lit area.

“I think that if clerks do go through that list of security recommendations as they’re considering their options, I think we should have a great deal of confidence that that (drop boxes) is a secure option if a voter chooses and feels comfortable with that return option,” Wolfe said. 

The use of ballot drop boxes has become politicized in recent years. The Wisconsin Department of Investigation is currently leading an investigation into Wausau Mayor Doug Diny’s actions after he removed an absentee ballot drop box outside of Wausau City Hall. 

“I think that a lot of communities have had some additional considerations or pressures within their communities that may have led to whatever their decision might be,” Wolfe said about the numbers Wednesday. 

Wolfe said municipalities do not have to report locations of drop boxes to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Because of that, she said there could be more drop boxes in use across the state.

Anna Anderson, the voting rights coordinator for Disability Rights Wisconsin, said drop boxes are a useful tool for disabled people.

She called them a “safe and secure way for people to cast a ballot.”

“It’s too bad, and I think what it does is marginalize people and people that are already marginalized from being able to cast a ballot, and everybody’s voice should be heard if they want it to be heard,” Anderson said. “So having an easy, and accessible and secure way to cast a ballot only makes sense to me.”

As of Tuesday, Wolfe said there were 562,644 absentee ballots requested by voters across the state. Of those, 239,997 had been returned to their municipal clerk so far.

Wolfe said at the same time in 2020, there were over 1.3 million absentee ballot requests made, and more than 700,000 absentee ballots had been returned. 

“This data illustrates that absentee voting trends are beginning to look more like pre-2020 levels,” Wolfe said.

Wolfe said in-person absentee voting — which starts Tuesday — is another option for voters to cast their ballots.

“So I think that voters have a lot of choices to make, and I think that we have a lot of really great, secure options here in the state of Wisconsin that allow people to make the decision that’s best for them,” Wolfe said. 

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin has called on the Department of Justice to investigate text messages they say targeted and threatened to discourage young people from voting in the November election.

The League of Women Voters says it initially learned of the alleged text campaign on 10 October, when the group received numerous complaints from voters who had received the text. Two people in their 20s who work with the League of Women Voters also received the message, which reads: “WARNING: Violating WI Statutes 12.13 & 6.18 may result in fines up to $10,000 or 3.5 years in prison. Don’t vote in a state where you’re not eligible.”

The rules governing voter eligibility for college students are no different than for any other Wisconsin residents, who are required to have lived at their current address for at least 28 days before the election to vote there.

Some Republican-controlled states have sought to clamp down on student voting, drafting legislation to restrict the use of student identification cards as a form of voter ID and close campus polling places. Most lawmakers justify the measures as a means of preventing voter fraud. Others have openly complained that voting is too easy for college students – who tend to favor Democratic party candidates.

“They basically put the polling place next to the student dorm so they just have to roll out of bed, vote, and go back to bed,” Trump’s former attorney Cleta Mitchell told donors at a retreat in April 2023. During the meeting Mitchell reportedly emphasized the importance of limiting campus voting.

In Wisconsin, Republican lawmakers proposed a bill in 2024 that would have required University of Wisconsin campuses to provide information to students on how to vote from their home state.

Debra Cronmiller, the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, said she hoped for “some accountability for trying to intimidate these voters” and that the apparent mass text was unusual.

“We have been planning as voting rights organizations, as national organizations, for many, many different scenarios of things that could disrupt our election,” said Cronmiller. “I think because we were as prepared as we were, is why we could respond so very quickly to this particular threat.”

In their letter to the attorney general, Merrick Garland, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and the non-profit organization Free Speech for People claimed that the text message had “targeted young voters aged 18-25” and “reached many voters who are part of the University of Wisconsin system”. Now, the letter alleges, “many students and other young voters are fearful that they will face criminal prosecution if they register and exercise their right to vote – because of a malicious, inaccurate text sent by an anonymous party.”

The groups asked the attorney general’s office to investigate and publicize the person or group behind the text messages.

Week 8 of the 2024 Wisconsin high school football season is in the books, and High School on SI has published its fourth computer rankings of the season in the state.

Taking over the No. 1 spot in the 11-man computer rankings this week are the undefeated Stratford Tigers, coming off an impressive 48-20 victory against a tough Amherst opponent Friday. Mount Horeb / Barneveld remained undefeated but has dropped to the No. 2 spot.

A quick look at the 8-man computer rankings shows undefeated Highland retaining the No. 1 position and a 6-1 Gilman team moving up to No. 2.

SBLive’s formula was created using its linear algebra-based ranking algorithm inspired by the Colley Bias-Free Ranking Method. Colley’s Method was created by Wes Colley, Ph.D., an astrophysicist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. He devised his algorithm to help address the subjectivity and controversy regarding BCS college football selections in the 1990s and early 2000s, using a method that used no subjective variables.

• FAQ: SBLive High School Football Computer Rankings

Here are SBLive’s latest Wisconsin football computer rankings, as of Oct. 14, 2024:

WISCONSIN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COMPUTER RANKINGS

>> 11 MAN

>> 8 MAN

— Robin Erickson @sblivesports