This blog originally appeared at NBC NEWS.

This ruling could significantly influence Wisconsin’s elections leading up to the 2024 presidential contest, especially as a battleground state.

On Friday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted 4-3 to reverse a previous decision and allow the widespread use of ballot drop boxes across the crucial battleground state. This decision overturns a ruling from less than two years ago that restricted most drop boxes, emphasizing that municipal clerks now have the discretion to utilize secure drop boxes within the bounds of the law.

The decision, anticipated after liberal justices signaled their stance during May’s oral arguments, is poised to significantly impact Wisconsin’s 2024 presidential election dynamics. During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, Democrats widely encouraged drop box use among voters, a trend likely to continue this fall. Conversely, despite past Republican claims linking drop boxes to voter fraud, some Wisconsin Republicans are now advocating their use in light of the court’s ruling.

This ruling marks the latest development in Wisconsin’s electoral landscape, following a series of legal challenges and policy changes. Previously, the state Supreme Court, under conservative influence, restricted drop box locations to election clerk offices in a 2022 decision. However, with a shift in court composition favoring liberals in 2023, challenges led by Democratic groups sought to overturn these restrictions, arguing that Wisconsin law neither expressly prohibits nor mandates drop box use for returning absentee ballots.

With the court’s focus solely on the correctness of the 2022 ruling, this decision is expected to prompt further debate and adaptation among both political parties leading up to the upcoming elections in this pivotal swing state.

In the years following the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump and his allies frequently criticized the use of drop boxes for absentee ballots, falsely alleging widespread voter fraud. However, there has been a recent shift within the GOP nationally towards more favorable attitudes regarding early and alternative voting methods, including drop boxes. Even Trump himself has started to soften his stance on this issue.

NBC News reported in May that the Wisconsin GOP planned to encourage their supporters to use drop boxes in the upcoming presidential election if the state Supreme Court reinstated them, despite their previous criticisms. They also outlined plans to deploy volunteers to monitor drop boxes in Democratic-leaning areas.

The ruling on Friday, which reinstated the use of drop boxes, was largely expected. The four liberal justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court had indicated during May’s oral arguments that they believed the court’s previous ruling 22 months ago was incorrect. They emphasized that Wisconsin law does not explicitly address drop boxes and dismissed conservative claims of fraud associated with their use in past elections, citing a lack of evidence of such wrongdoing in the 2020 election.

Conservatives in the state had argued against revisiting the issue so soon after the previous decision, citing the doctrine of “stare decisis” which upholds legal precedents. However, liberal justices on the court rejected this argument, drawing parallels to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning Roe v. Wade, where they criticized the earlier decision and its consequences.

Justice Jill Karofsky, who dissented in the original 2022 ruling, highlighted the flawed reasoning behind the decision and its potential negative impact. Janet Protasiewicz, whose election victory in 2023 shifted the court’s balance in favor of liberals, joined the majority in Friday’s decision to reinstate drop boxes.