Former President Donald Trump is calling on Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to nullify ballots cast via absentee drop boxes, after the state Supreme Court decision Friday that rendered the drop boxes illegal.
Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, after the ruling to call on Vos and Wisconsin Republicans to “do something, for once, about this atrocity” after referring to the use of ballot boxes during the 2020 election as a systematic violation of the law.
Trump continued in a flurry of messages doubling down on a call to walk back President Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin, based on the outcome of an investigation by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman.
Gableman suggested in March that Wisconsin’s election results could be decertified and called for the Wisconsin Elections Commission to be dismantled after he asserted some nursing home residents cast ballots without knowing what they were doing — a claim refuted by legal scholars. He has since eased up on his March position.
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Gableman was hired a year ago by Vos, under pressure from Trump to review the election the former president lost to Biden by just under 21,000 votes in Wisconsin. While the probe was originally allocated $676,000 in taxpayer funds, invoices have shown that ongoing court battles surrounding the review have pushed the cost to nearly $900,000.
In social media messages on Saturday, Trump called the 2020 election a “substantial” victory for Republicans, but a recount, court decisions and multiple reviews have affirmed that Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin. Only 24 people out of nearly 3.3 million who cast ballots have been charged with election fraud in Wisconsin.
The ongoing battle over the longstanding use of drop boxes has persisted since the 2020 election, due in part to unfounded claims of election fraud by Trump.
GOP skepticism of the 2020 election is fueled in part by pressure from Trump, who continues to push false, unfounded claims of fraud and still holds considerable sway over the party nationwide.
Absentee ballot drop boxes were used in hundreds of communities during elections that took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but in a 4-3 decision Friday, the state’s high court upheld a lower court’s January ruling that absentee ballots must be delivered by mail or in person to a local clerk’s office or designated alternate site. However, the court did not rule on whether voters can have someone else handle their ballot on its way to a mailbox.
The ruling was handed down four months before a high-stakes Nov. 8 election. Democrats are seeking to oust U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, and Republicans have their sights set on defeating Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is seeking a second term.
Vos, Evers, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Elections Commission were not available for comment on Sunday.
Art of the Everyday: A recap of June in photos from Wisconsin State Journal photographers
A pod of American white pelicans gather on rocks in the Wisconsin River below the Alliant Energy dam in Prairie du Sac, Wis. Monday, June 6, 2022. The species, largely unseen in the state during much of the 20th century, are more common to the region now and are one of North America's largest flying birds, featuring a wingspan up to nine feet and weighing up to 30 pounds. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A duck lifts off the water as boaters paddle to Tenney Park Beach during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
(From left lower) Roomates Isabella Bortolotti and Rachel Bearder host friends for a pool party in their front yard, including Maddie Gehring, right, Lola Wojcik, top left, and Grover Bortolotti, all college students, on the Near West Side during a heat wave in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, June 14, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Syanne Morales and her son, Syncere Bowie, enjoy the cool relief offered by a water feature during a visit to the Cypress Splash Park in Madison Wis. Tuesday, June 14, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
(From left) Tabitha Goldberger, 10, Camila Fernandez Adamae, 11, and Vee Schwartz, 13, react as they perform a rocket propulsion experiment using Alka-Seltzer and water in a film canister during summer camp at Stellar Tech Girls in Middleton, Wis., Wednesday, June 15, 2022.
Ashley Peotter, front, carries a canoe with her teammate Marie Barry through Tenney Park during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Kelly Parks Snider’s “Between Spaces” exhibit at the Arts + Literature Laboratoryin Madison, Wis. Friday, June 3, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Josh Hull, right, and Trevor Stahl, both of Roanoke, Virginia, who are participating in the Great Race, a vintage car rally that started in Warwick, Rhode Island on June 18 and will end in Fargo, North Dakota on June 26, prepare to hit the road after making a stop at Angell Park on their 2,300-mile journey in Sun Prairie, Wis., Thursday, June 23, 2022.
The group Wild Violets, including Raquel Aleman, right, Sam Rae, front, and Becky Burbach perform outside the Barrymore Theatre during Make Music Madison in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, June 21, 2022.
Mariah Quinn Duffy, center, and her sons, from left, Kieran, 9, Ronan, 2, and Nolan, 6, add compost to a raised bed vegetable garden outside their home in Madison, Wis., Monday, June 13, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Kit Rittman and her husband Greg, front, cheer as boaters paddle down the Yahara River during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Gretchen Bushman, a recent UW-Madison grad and fan of music artist Harry Styles, relaxes outside her apartment on West Washington Avenue while escaping the heat of her non-air conditioned residence in Madison Wis. Tuesday, June 14, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Raghiatou Bah and her son, Mamadou, 8, explore their new living space - a condominium purchased with assistance from a grant through Own It: Building Black Wealth - in Madison, Wis. Friday, June 17, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A Progress Pride Flag is raised above the east wing of the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. in observance of the month of June being designated as Pride Month Wednesday, June 1, 2022. An iteration of the widely recognized Rainbow Pride Flag, the Progress Pride Flag was created to symbolize inclusion of marginalized communities within the LGBTQ community and includes additional stripes forming a chevron pattern that represent LGBTQ individuals of color and the transgender community, as well as those who are living with and who have been lost to HIV/AIDS. Assisting with the effort are Wisconsin Department of Administration workers Darrin Smith, left, and Steve Walker. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Demonstrators protest at the state Capitol after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, in Madison, Wis., Friday, June 24, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
People gather in support of Planned Parenthood and abortion rights at the state Capitol Rotunda in Madison on June 22.
Madison Edgewood's Caden Thomas competes in the Division 2 boys high jump during the final day of the WIAA state track and field meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse , Wis., Saturday, June 4, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
McFarland's Julia Ackley reacts after clearing 10 feet, 6 inches on her first attempt in the Division 2 girls pole vault during the final day of the WIAA state track and field meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse , Wis., Saturday, June 4, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Oregon girls soccer teammates (clockwise from bottom) Addison Werth, Zoey Pagels, Kately Studebaker and Lily Eisele celebrate their 1-0 WIAA Division 2 state championship victory over Whitefish Bay on June 18 at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee.
Oregon’s Elise Boyd (22) and Whitefish Bay’a Emma Addeo (16) compete for the ball during the second half of Oregon’s 1-0 WIAA Division 2 state championship win at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee, Wis. Saturday, June 18, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Wisconsin men’s soccer coach Neil Jones coaches athletes during a summer camp at University Bay Fields in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, June 22, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Milton catcher Grace Schnell, left, watches as teammate Lydia Miller catches a fly ball after it bounced off of Schnell's mitt during a Division 1 state softball quarterfinal game at Goodman Softball Complex in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 9, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Thongchai Jaidee celebrates his victory in the American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge in Madison, Wis., Sunday, June 12, 2022. AP Photo/Kayla Wolf
Golfers, from left, Vijay Singh, Brandt Jobe and Bernhard Langer and their caddies read the green on the eighth hole during the American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge in Madison, Wis., Friday, June 10, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Elizabeth Beyer | Wisconsin State Journal
Elizabeth Beyer is a digital producer for the Wisconsin State Journal. She joined the team in 2019 and was formerly a data, video and audio reporter at the La Crosse Tribune.
