Republican lawmaker files complaint over ballot harvesting

By Bob Unruh

Ballot harvesting is one of the procedures that appeared widely during the 2020 presidential election. And it is one of the procedures that has been widely criticized for the ways it can create doubt about results.

It is essentially when organizations gather up election ballots from other people and then turn them in to be counted.

Suspicions focus on who is doing the collecting, who are they collecting from, and whether there is any security for the handling of the ballots.

In the wake of all those doubts created during the 2020 counting, states, including Wisconsin, reacted by disallowing the activity.

But now a lawmaker in that state says it’s still going on.

Just the News reports that state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, has filed a complaint with the state Elections Commission, which earlier was criticized for handing out incorrect information to elections officials during the 2020 race, charging the city of Racine is letting people return ballots for other voters.

“The law has been clear for months – you must return your own ballot,” Wanggaard said in the Just the News report. “Racine is intentionally ignoring the law. Not liking the law doesn’t make it okay. Hoping for a different Supreme Court ruling in a few months does not make it okay. The law is the law.”

Local races are on the ballot in this election.

The report explained, “A Waukesha County judge ruled last January that only voters can return their own ballots. The ruling was part of a challenge to ballot drop boxes, which Republicans such as Wanggaard said opened the door for ballot harvesting.”

That decision has been affirmed by the state Supreme Court.

But Wanggaard charged Racine was “openly flaunting the circuit court, the Wisconsin Supreme Court and Wisconsin Elections Commission guidance.”

He also said because of Racine’s decision to “allow ballot harvesting,” voters in districts where that was not allowed essentially were being treated differently.

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Bob Unruh

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. Read more of Bob Unruh's articles here.


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