George Dreckmann and his spouse Diane are usually not simply husband and spouse. They’re additionally “poll buddies” in Madison, Wisconsin, tasked with emptying poll drop packing containers day by day — a routine that has been engulfed in controversy within the state over the previous few years.
Poll drop packing containers, safe buildings the place individuals can safely submit a accomplished mail poll, have been on the middle of election conspiracy theories in Wisconsin since 2020, after a right-wing movie falsely linked them to poll stuffing.
“We’ve specifically skilled poll courier groups [and] we have now a reasonably sturdy chain of custody,” Paulina Gutierrez, the brand new election administrator for Milwaukee, informed ABC Information’ Deborah Roberts.”We’re following the very best practices which have been supplied by nationwide and federal companions and likewise following the steering of the Wisconsin Election Fee.”
“The drop packing containers are safe,” Dreckmann informed ABC Information. “We’ve a chain-of-custody system in place in order that we all know once we picked up the ballots and once we dropped them off.”
The packing containers have been banned within the essential swing state in 2022 by a conservative-leaning Wisconsin Supreme Court docket, however have been reinstated by a liberal-controlled courtroom this previous July.
However regardless of the courtroom’s latest ruling, some officers within the state are pushing again.
Final month, Wausau Mayor Doug Diny carted off the town’s solely absentee poll drop field and stashed it in his workplace — a transfer that prompted an investigation by the Wisconsin Division of Justice.
Ballot employees George Dreckmann and his spouse Diane converse with ABC Information about poll drop packing containers in Wisconsin.
ABC Information
Diny informed Wausau ABC affiliate WAOW that he believed the drop field, which didn’t comprise ballots, was not correctly secured to the sidewalk and determined to take issues into his personal fingers. It was later returned and bolted to the bottom.
Diny, who ran for mayor as an opponent of drop packing containers, insists he did nothing improper.
He had beforehand mentioned he wished the town council to debate whether or not to permit a drop field within the Central Wisconsin metropolis.
“Wisconsin’s used poll packing containers for many years and many years,” Ann Jacobs, the chair of the Wisconsin Elections Fee, informed ABC Information. “Sadly, some communities have fallen prey to the conspiracy theories surrounding drop packing containers and have elected to not use them. I say sadly as a result of drop packing containers are a protected, simple and efficient method to transmit your poll instantly from you, the voter, to your clerk.”
Gutierrez, who has embraced poll drop packing containers, has been targeted on offering higher transparency to encourage voters to belief the packing containers.
“Each field has a digital camera on it,” Gutierrez mentioned. “You may’t simply put any poll in right here. When a poll is available in right here, we take it to our operations middle to ensure it is a reputable poll.”
Milwaukee election administrator Paulina Gutierrez speaks with ABC Information about poll drop packing containers in Wisconsin.
ABC Information
“If at any level a few of that stuff is not including up, it will not be counted,” Gutierrez mentioned.
As ballot employees who’ve spent a number of election cycles emptying poll drop packing containers and securing absentee ballots, Dreckmann and his spouse name the conspiracy theories about drop packing containers “irritating.”
“You need to belief the method and the safeguards we have now in place,” Dreckmann mentioned. “The dropbox system is as protected as placing it within the mail.”
