Wisconsin Supreme Court says absentee voter drop boxes are illegal

The big picture: Absentee voting and drop boxes surged in popularity during the pandemic, with more than 40% of all voters casting mail ballots during the 2020 election.

• The ruling is a blow to Democrats in the battleground state before the 2022 and 2024 elections. Biden narrowly beat Trump in Wisconsin by just under 21,000 votes in 2020.

Driving the news: The court ruled that Wisconsin voters will be required to mail or return completed absentee ballots in person to designated officials.

• Voters will also only be allowed to return absentee ballots in drop boxes in elected officials' offices, per the court.
• "Wisconsin's election statutes require that to return an absentee ballot in person, voters must personally deliver their ballot to the clerk or the clerk's authorized representative," the conservative majority court wrote in the Friday opinion.
• The court did not address the question of whether anyone other than the voter can return their own ballot by mail, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Go deeper... Florida lawmakers pass bill restricting mail voting, drop boxes

Editor's note: This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.