New voting rules don’t improve security, transparency

They tell us the changes are needed to improve the safety and transparency of our elections. But it is difficult to see how. Wisconsin’s Republican controlled legislature made some changes to the rules governing how we can vote in the April election. Most notably, the changes make it more burdensome to vote absentee. Wisconsinites have quickly taken to absentee voting, allowing voters to cast a ballot at their convenience, up to two weeks before the election. But no longer can you fill out your ballot and put it in the drop box outside City Hall. Instead, it can only be put in the U.S. mail, hand delivered to your local clerk’s office, or delivered in-person to your polling place on election day. It is hard to see how this improves the process, or makes it more secure. Any ballot put in a mailbox in La Crosse is sent to St. Paul to be sorted before it is returned to the La Crosse clerk. That increases the likelihood the ballot will be lost in the mail, or not be returned on time. By comparison, the drop box outside City Hall was under 24-hour surveillance and voters could be assured that if they were returned on time they would be received on time. These changes were simply not needed and add unnecessary hurdles to casting a ballot. The changes are not about improving election security, but rather suppressing the ability to vote.