Union Grove and Yorkville remove ballot drop box

The municipal center serves as the village hall for Union Grove and Yorkville, and both allowed voters to deposit absentee ballots in a drop box on the south side of the building.

But the drop box — which is also used for paying property taxes and other bills — will not be available for voters in the Nov. 5 election. Any absentee ballot placed there will be mailed back to the voter with instructions to return the ballot through the mail or in person during business hours.

The communities have about 400 voters combined seeking absentee ballots for the fall election.

Yorkville officials do not like the idea of sharing a drop box with another municipality, and Union Grove officials decided that too many voters are no longer comfortable with the security of drop boxes.

“I felt that it would be best to eliminate all of the ‘what if’ questions by removing the option altogether,” Union Grove Village Clerk Stephanie Kohlhagen said.

The Yorkville Village Board voted Monday to stop providing a drop box for ballots.

Yorkville village attorneys advised against continuing to share the drop box with Union Grove, because of what they perceived as a potential “commingling” of ballots and other security issues.

Village Clerk Janine Carls said Yorkville would have needed to find a new location for a drop box, and might have needed permission to install a new drop box at the municipal center, which is owned by Union Grove.

“If we did provide a second drop box option on the same premises, it may confuse users, and result in items being placed in the wrong box,” Carls said.

She also cited the expense of installing a new drop box, as well as a security camera.

Kohlhagen said she is not aware of any past problems with Yorkville or Union Grove officials mixing up ballots deposited in the shared drop box. Nor is she aware of any vandalism or other security issue.

“There has never been an issue with this drop box,” she said. “It is secure, not movable, and locked.”

Ballot drop boxes became a hot topic following the 2020 presidential election when Donald Trump supporters argued that Joe Biden’s victory was the result of voter fraud, including abuse of drop boxes. The state Supreme Court banned drop boxes in 2022, but then reversed itself earlier this year.

The City of Racine and other communities in Racine County are offering drop boxes for the 2024 presidential election.

Racine has seven locations where absentee voters can deposit their ballots. Each location has a security camera and other procedures designed to protect voters.

Other municipalities providing drop boxes include Caledonia, Sturtevant, Rochester, Raymond and the Town of Burlington.

Burlington Town Clerk Jeanne Rennie said the drop box at Town Hall, 32288 Bushnell Road, is secure and widely used among the town’s 278 absentee voters.

“It is a convenient way to drop off absentee ballots,” Rennie said. “Many voters have used it.”

The City of Burlington is undecided about whether to resume using a drop box at the public library for the city’s current estimated 580 absentee voters.

Absentee ballots must be returned or postmarked by Nov. 5.