There is a reason our parents always told us to beware of strangers in vans. That even applies in elections.
As children, our parents taught us to beware of strangers. We were cautioned to avoid strangers offering candy or to let you pet their puppy. But perhaps above all, we were warned never to get near strange vans.
Now, the Racine County Circuit Court has ruled that official election business cannot be conducted in strange vans on the side of the road. Registering to vote and casting a ballot are sacred activities that should not be done in an insecure mobile facility.
As shocking as it may seem, in 2022 the City of Racine, Wisconsin used a van to register voters and allow them to cast ballots. Not only does a mobile van minimize election security and transparency, but in this case, it was also used as a partisan tool by the Democrats. The van disproportionally served Democrat neighborhoods and was funded by “ZuckerBucks,” third-party election funding that has since been banned in 27 states. This is further evidence of Democrats using election funding to their advantage.
After Racine announced that it would use these shady vans for official government business, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) arguing that this van was not a legal means of conducting election-related business. WILL also argued that the use of the vans was a use of government resources to give Democrats a political advantage, thereby violating a Wisconsin state statute. Shockingly, WEC dismissed the complaint as if voting out of a van were normal. WILL appealed the decision to the Racine County Circuit Court.
On Jan. 8, the Racine County Circuit Court ruled that the mobile van gave a political advantage to Democrats and that Wisconsin state statutes do not allow mobile voting locations, issuing a sucker punch to Zuckerbucks.
To be clear, the Wisconsin statutes don’t say “no voter vans,” but all the statutes are written with a clear presumption that election facilities would be in buildings, and reasoning that makes sense. Mobile voting vans are inherently flawed because it can be difficult to ensure the security of the voting process, especially if the van is not equipped with the necessary technology to prevent tampering or to properly identify voters. In a time of doubt in election results, vans pose an unnecessary risk to voter confidence.
For now, voter vans have been kicked to the curb in Wisconsin, but they are a good reminder that the Left will do anything to get their ballots in boxes, even if it means less security and transparency in our elections. To counter these desperate attempts to undermine our votes, let’s all remember our parents’ warnings and avoid strange vans. Especially if there is a shady liberal enticing you with promises of free and fair elections.