Senate Bill 554 aims to amend current election laws in Wisconsin by prohibiting municipalities from using absentee ballot drop boxes for any election. The bill creates a new statute, 6.87 (4) (b) 1m., which explicitly states that no municipality may utilize a drop box or any other physical receptacle for the receipt of voted absentee ballots, mandating that all absentee ballots must be returned by mail.

This legislative change comes in response to a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling in Priorities USA v. Wis. Elections Commission, which interpreted existing law as allowing the use of drop boxes. By enacting this bill, the legislature seeks to eliminate the option of drop boxes for absentee ballot submissions, thereby reinforcing the requirement that voters must mail their ballots or deliver them in person to the municipal clerk.