Ballot drop boxes will be back for the 2024 election. Here's how to use them

For Milwaukeeans voting absentee in the upcoming election, ballot drop boxes will once again be among several options they have when returning completed ballots.

The ballot drop boxes weren't always a guarantee for the 2024 election: amid conservative challenges to absentee voting, the Wisconsin Supreme Court's then-conservative majority ruled in July 2022 that ballot drop boxes were illegal in Wisconsin. This summer, however, the newly liberal-controlled court reinstated the longstanding practice.

The challenges to ballot drop boxes stemmed from unfounded allegations by Republicans and former president Donald Trump that absentee voting was rife with fraud after his 2020 election loss. Democrats, meanwhile, have argued that drop boxes make voting more accessible.

Here's everything to know about ballot drop boxes, from where they are located around Milwaukee to how the absentee ballots in drop boxes are counted on Election Day.

More: Here's what to know about getting, returning an absentee ballot in Wisconsin

Where are the ballot drop boxes in Milwaukee?

Milwaukee will operate 14 ballot drop boxes for the November election, almost all of them located by public libraries. The city aims to provide at least one drop box for every 15,000 to 20,000 registered voters.

Here's where you can drop your ballot off if you're a Milwaukee voter:

• 1960 W. Atkinson Ave. (Atkinson Library)

• 2566 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. (Bay View Library)

• 3969 N. 74th St. (Capitol Library)

• 2727 W. Fond du Lac Ave. (Center Street Library)

• 814 W. Wisconsin Ave. (Central Library)

• 200 E. Wells St. (City Hall Complex)

• 2320 N. Cramer St. (East Library)

• 1901 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. (Election Operations Center)

• 7715 W. Good Hope Road (Good Hope Library)

• 906 W. Historic Mitchell St. (Mitchell Street Library)

• 3912 S. Howell Ave. (Tippecanoe Library)

• 5190 N. 35th St. (Villard Square Library)

• 3501 W. Oklahoma Ave. (Zablocki Library)

• 2121 N. Sherman Blvd. (Washington Park Library)

To find your closest drop box, you can click through the interactive map below. The Milwaukee Election Commission also provides specific directions to each drop box on its website.

Who can use the ballot drop boxes in Milwaukee?

Only people who live and vote in the city of Milwaukee can use the ballot drop boxes. People from the larger Milwaukee area and surrounding suburbs should use drop boxes set up by their own city, town or village.

What is the deadline to put your ballot in a drop box for the 2024 election?

Drop boxes will begin accepting ballots for the November election starting at noon Monday, Oct. 14.

After then, you have until 6 p.m. on Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 5) to drop off your ballot.

If you miss that deadline, you can deliver your ballot in-person to the Election Commission's Central Count location at the Baird Center, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave. You must deliver it by 8 p.m. to make sure your ballot is counted.

Do I have to return my own ballot to a drop box?

Voters should return only their own ballots to a drop box, barring a few special exemptions.

Voters who have an illness, disability or are hospitalized can have a lawful assistant to deliver their ballot to a drop box on their behalf. If called upon, these assistants are allowed to return the ballots of more than one disabled, hospitalized or ill absentee voter.

How do I know my ballot will be safe in a drop box until Election Day?

The city has taken several steps to ensure ballots will be securely locked inside drop boxes until an election official collects them, according to the Election Commission.

All drop boxes are located in well-lit areas on city government property with 24-hour security cameras nearby. The boxes are made of heavy-duty steel and permanently bolted into the ground — meaning they are designed to to withstand weather elements and any tampering or stealing attempts.

Additionally, drop boxes are secured with heavy-duty, key-access locks that only specially trained election officials are able to open.

How and when are drop box ballots counted?

Ballots will be retrieved from drop boxes up until and on Election Day, following a specific set of steps outlined by the Election Commission. Throughout the retrieval process, ballot collection teams are required to fill out chain of custody forms tracking where and when the ballots travel throughout the day.

Here's how your ballot will be counted if you return it to a drop box:

• Drop boxes remain locked unless an election official is retrieving ballots. The ballots will be picked up every day, sometimes several times a day, until Election Day, according to Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutiérrez.

• During ballot pick-ups, specially trained election officials will travel in pairs to each drop box. These officials, who have taken oaths of duty, will all be wearing city of Milwaukee vests, carrying election official ID badges and traveling in city-issued vehicles.

• After collecting ballots from a drop box, election officials will secure them in a ballot courier bag.

• Election officials will then immediately return to a secure ballot processing center with the ballot courier bag.

• Upon arrival to the center, the ballots are immediately processed and stored in a secure room.

• At 6 p.m. on Election Day, officials will retrieve ballots for a final time and then lock the drop boxes. This is to ensure all ballots arrive to the Central Count location by 8 p.m. when polls close.

What other ways can you return an absentee ballot?

If you would rather not use a ballot drop box, there are still several ways you can return your absentee ballot.

You can mail your absentee ballot back anytime before Election Day. However, earlier is better, as the U.S. Postal Service recommends mailing back absentee ballots at least a week before Election Day, or Oct. 29, so it gets to local clerks in time.

Up until Oct. 22, you can deliver your ballot in-person to the Election Commission office on the fifth floor of Milwaukee City Hall. After that date, you can return your absentee ballot to one of 14 early voting locations in Milwaukee, open Oct. 22 to Nov. 3.

On Election Day, you can return your absentee ballot to your local clerk's office, your assigned polling place or the Central Count location.

This story has been updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.

More: Wisconsin Supreme Court reinstates absentee ballot drop boxes

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Absentee ballot drop boxes in Milwaukee: locations, deadlines