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Eric Hovde says the ballot boxes “were only used for a pandemic.”

Umito October 25, 2024

In what will likely be the only U.S. Senate debate in Wisconsin, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Democrat of Wisconsin, and her Republican challenger Eric Hovde clashed over a variety of issues, including health care, immigration, politics foreign affairs, care of the elderly and social affairs. Security.

During the October 18, 2024 debate, Hovde, a businessman who unsuccessfully ran for Wisconsin Senate in 2012, made a comment that piqued the interest of PolitiFact Wisconsin.

“We need to create confidence in our electoral system,” he said. “This is causing too much tension in our country, and let me tell you, it doesn’t help when our state Supreme Court brings back drop boxes when they were only used for a pandemic.”

Were drop boxes “used only during a pandemic?” Let’s take a look.

What are drop boxes?

Drop boxes are receptacles in which voters can return their completed absentee ballots, rather than by mail, to the clerk’s office or their polling location.

In 2020, advice to clerks, the Wisconsin Elections Commission described them such as a secure, locked box, staffed or unmanned, that must be permanently cemented to the ground and made of a durable material such as steel. They can cost up to $6,000. Drop boxes are more secure than mailboxes and typically weigh more than 600 pounds.

According to a July 2024 Wisconsin election commission draft guidance documento, the use of drop boxes is not required and is at the discretion of the Municipal Clerk.

Milwaukee will operate 14 drop boxes for the November election, almost all located near public libraries, the office said. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. All Milwaukee drop boxes are located in well-lit areas on city government property, with 24-hour security cameras nearby. The boxes are made from sturdy steel and permanently bolted into the ground, meaning they are designed to withstand the elements and any attempts at tampering or theft.

Wisconsin Republicans and Democrats supported drop boxes before the 2020 election, but their use became a partisan issue after Donald Trump lost by just over 1,000 to President Joe Biden in Wisconsin. 20,600 votes in 2020.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled drop boxes illegal in 2022. But Wisconsin’s new liberal control Supreme Court in July 2024 restored the use of ballot boxes for postal ballots in the swing state.

So what about Hovde’s claim that drop boxes were “only used for a pandemic”?

Dropbox History

Drop boxes have been used for years without incident, but their popularity exploded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Then in August 2020, as reported Political factTrump called drop boxes a “voter security disaster” and tried to sow doubt about their control.

Amber McReynolds, CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute and former Denver elections official, said Political fact as of October 2020, these ballot boxes have been in use for approximately two decades.

In Wisconsin, according to a Wisconsin Supreme Court In a brief dated April 18, 2024, municipal clerks across the state have used the ballot boxes regularly, many since the 1980s or 1990s.

But their use increased significantly during the 2020 pandemic, when 500 boxes were available to voters in 430 communities across the state, according to a report. Associated Press report.

Many of these boxes were removed after the Supreme Court’s initial ruling banning them. It’s unclear exactly how many drop boxes will be available for this year’s vote, but there will likely be far fewer than in 2020.

Many conservative communities have chosen to stop using the boxes in 2024, according to the AP report.

Our decision

Hovde said the ballot boxes “were only used for a pandemic.”

Drop boxes have been used for decades in Wisconsin, at least since the 1980s or 90s, with their use becoming even more popular during the pandemic and heavily used during the 2020 presidential election.

For a statement that is not accurate, our rating is false.