How conspiracy theorists weaponized ballot boxes

_Another election conspiracy quashed: There were no real problems with the use of drop boxes to collect ballots during the 2020 presidential election, an_ Associated Press _investigation has

found. A survey of voting officials found "no cases of fraud, vandalism or theft that could have affected the results,"_ _Anthony Izaguirre and Christina A. Cassidy write for_ AP.

_The drop boxes are at the center of former President Donald Trump's ongoing (and false) efforts to declare Joe Biden's victory a fraud. Most recently, the film 2000 Mules made

the case that Democratic fraudsters "were paid to illegally collect ballots and deliver them to drop boxes in key swing states ahead of the 2020 presidential election,"_ _Ali

Swenson wrote in May, also for_ AP._ The film — directed by Dinesh D'Souza, who_ _received a pardon_ _from then-President Trump in 2018 — has been_ _widely_ _and_ _roundly_ _debunked__.

_ _But proving a conspiracy theory is unfounded doesn't mean it will disappear. Drop boxes remain controversial — the Wisconsin Supreme Court just_ _declared them illegal_ _for that

state's elections. Why are Democrats and Republicans struggling over drop boxes? Here's everything you need to know._ SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts

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get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. WHY

WERE DROP BOXES USED SO MUCH IN 2020? The COVID-19 pandemic, obviously. Rather than make unvaccinated voters stand together in long lines on Election Day while a deadly virus was running

rampant, officials in a number of states decided to use secure drop boxes — usually used for absentee ballots — as an alternative. There were also widespread concerns that the U.S. Postal

Service wasn't up to the task of delivering ballots on time. And there was evidence they could be used safely: "In the 2016 campaign, one in six ballots cast were dropped in secure

boxes — locked metal containers weighing as much as 600 pounds — with virtually no incidence of fraud," Glenn Thrush and Nick Corasaniti reported for _The_ _New York Times_ in 2020.

From the beginning, though, there was a partisan battle over the wisdom of using the drop boxes. Democrats and Republicans had already been battling over voter access issues for years, with

Republicans citing nearly non-existent voter fraud in order to make it tougher to vote, while Democrats argued to make it easier. The 2020 election brought those fights to a new level. Even

before the election, Trump claimed — without evidence — that the devices were insecure and would enable fraud. "Among other things, they make it possible for a person to vote multiple

times," he tweeted. "Also, who controls them, are they placed in Republican or Democrat areas?" Republicans fought to limit the use of drop boxes, and succeeded in some

GOP-controlled jurisdictions. Other states, like Pennsylvania, proceeded with their use. In the end, 10 states declined to make drop boxes available to voters. HOW DID THAT WORK OUT? Lots of

voters cast their ballots without going to the polls in 2020. According to the Pew Research Center, a small majority of Americans — just 54 percent — voted in person, while another 45

percent used either the drop boxes or mailed in their ballots. (Those votes were split fairly evenly between the mail and drop boxes.) The absentee voters were disproportionately Democratic:

58 percent of Biden backers voted using drop boxes or the mail, while just 32 percent of Trump voters did so. In an election where a few thousand votes in a few key states swung the

election, that disparity probably made some difference. (Of course, many of those voters who used absentee methods might have decided to vote in person if that was the only option.)

That's probably why drop boxes have continued to play a central role in Trump's 2020 conspiracy-mongering. D'Souza's _2000 Mules_ movie has become popular among the

former president's supporters. The problem with the accusations, though, is that it's difficult to find an expert who gives them any credence. "Ultimately, '2000

Mules' speculates that the so-called ballot-traffickers were dropping off fraudulent ballots — but the film does not prove this," _Reuters_ reported in a May fact-check of the

film, and noted that "more than 50 lawsuits brought by Trump or his allies alleging election fraud or other irregularities were dismissed by state and federal judges." _The

Washington Post_'s Philip Bump delivers a stark verdict: "So far, not only has no proof of rampant fraud been demonstrated, there hasn't been any evidence of even small-scale

fraud." SO WILL VOTERS GET TO USE DROP BOXES IN FUTURE ELECTIONS? Depends where you live — and if that's a state where Republicans run the government, it's likely your ability

to use drop boxes has been diminished or eliminated entirely. (You can use this website from U.S. Voter to see if they're available where you vote.) Since the 2020 election, Georgia

and Iowa have passed laws limiting the use of drop boxes, while "Louisiana, Missouri and South Carolina have passed laws effectively prohibiting drop boxes," Izaguirre and Cassidy

report for _AP_. Even in states where drop boxes are in use, there might be controversy during the midterms. "Republican activists in Washington are organizing surveillance of ballot

drop boxes," Jim Brunner reports for the _Seattle Times__,_ and that "has raised concerns about possible intimidation" during this year's midterm elections. How future

elections are affected by all of this remains to be seen. "Removing drop boxes will help rebuild the trust that has been lost," Georgia State Sen. Butch Miller (R) told _States

Newsroom_'s Kira Lerner. Others are skeptical, suggesting there wouldn't be much of an issue if Trump had won the 2020 election. From that standpoint, the problem was "making

it easier for people to vote," said Amber McReynolds, an elections expert. Drop boxes, she said. were "politicized because people felt that it hurt them, or one person felt it hurt

him."