A conservative legal group has filed a complaint over Hartland's use of absentee ballot drop boxes

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a conservative legal group, has filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Election Commission over the village of Hartland's use of absentee ballot drop boxes for the 2020 general election.

"State law is crystal clear that absentee ballots can be cast in two ways: by mail or delivered in person to the clerk," said WILL Deputy Counsel Luke Berg. "The expansive use of unstaffed absentee ballot drop boxes creates enormous legal uncertainty."

Village Clerk Darlene Igl is listed as the defendant in the complaint. WILL contends that Igl allowed village voters to cast absentee ballots contrary to state law.

Hartland Attorney Hector de la Mora said the village is reviewing the allegations.

"My preliminary understanding is that the process that was put in place by the village followed the recommendations of the election commission," de la Mora said. "Two drop boxes were utilized."

According to de la Mora, one box was adjacent to the police department while the other was adjacent to the library.

"Both areas were well lit, and I believe they were under camera surveillance," de la Mora said. "The village intends to make it clear that we were always following advice provided by the ultimate authority, which is the election commission."

Hartland has 10 business days to provide a response to the allegations.

Collin Roth, the director of communications for WILL, declined to comment when asked whether the group was also filing complaints against other municipalities.

The complaint was filed at about the same time two voters asked a judge to block the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin. WILL assisted on the case, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.

The two voters, Richard Teigen of Hartland and Richard Thom of Menomonee Falls, filed the lawsuit against the WEC in Waukesha County three days after after the state Supreme Court declined to take a separate case that challenged the legality of ballot drop boxes.

Drop boxes were widely used in Wisconsin last year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit seeks to prevent voters from having someone else return their absentee ballot for them. If the suit were successful, voters would be barred from handing in the ballots of their spouses and neighbors.

Contact Evan Frank at (262) 361-9138 or evan.frank@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Evanfrank_LCP.