MADISON, Wis. — The Republican National Committee (RNC), Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW), and RITE PAC have teamed up to intervene in a lawsuit filed by a national Democratic law firm last month, which seeks to let voters in the Badger State return their ballots to absentee drop boxes again.
The motion to intervene filed Tuesday also responds to parts of the lawsuit that sought to invalidate Wisconsin’s absentee ballot witness requirement and the ballot curing deadline for election day.
Last year, in Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, the Wisconsin Supreme Court banned absentee ballot drop boxes except in election offices and ruled that no one other than the voter can return a ballot in person. The ruling, which came in the wake of the 2020 election when concerns were raised about election integrity, was handed down by a conservative-leaning majority. Since then, the ideological balance of the state’s high court has now shifted in favor of liberals after Justice Janet Protasiewicz was sworn into office last week.
Republicans are now accusing Democrats of trying to undo settled law.
“Now, you kind of have these opportunistic Democrat super lawyers who are kind of going state to state and filing suits like this, and really these suits are more about getting on MSNBC than they are about making sure that elections run safely and securely,” RNC Legal Communications Director Gates McGavick said.
McGavick said the move by Republicans is part of a broader, nationwide effort with the RNC currently involved in 50 active election integrity lawsuits in 16 states.
“We see this as a kind of very aggressive attempt to undermine what are some really basic, boring rules,” McGavick explained. “This isn’t dramatic rocket science, this is kind of the minutia of how elections are run, so when we see Democrats put millions of dollars into these very convoluted suits, trying to rewrite the rule book, you kind of have to take a step back. Why are they doing that, and how can we stop them?”
Supporters of ballot drop boxes insist they are better than mail because the process is faster and reduces the risk of ballots being lost, while opponents argue the boxes are unsecure and can be a target for fraud.
“Despite the schemes of overtly far-left groups like Law Forward and the Elias Group, the Republican Party of Wisconsin will continue to ensure Wisconsin voters have full confidence in our elections,” Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming said in a statement. “While Democrats attempt to undo common sense voting measures like requiring witness signatures on absentee ballots, we will continue to fight back against Democrat efforts to undermine safeguards every step of the way. Having safeguards in our elections should be a bipartisan issue; Wisconsinites in every corner of the state want fair and transparent elections.”
The latest development in the lawsuit comes as Wisconsin becomes an increasingly intense battleground for the 2024 cycle, with four of the last six presidential elections decided by less than a percentage point in the Badger State.