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Wausau clerk reports election irregularity to DA and Elections Commission after drop box removal by mayor

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WAUSAU – City Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde reported Wednesday an election 
irregularity regarding the movement of the clerk’s office drop box to the 
Marathon County district attorney and the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

The report of the irregularity comes after Wausau Mayor Doug Diny admitted 
to moving the clerk’s office drop box Sunday afternoon after noticing it 
was not secured to the pavement outside of City Hall.

Wisconsin Statute 7.15(1)(g) directs municipal clerks to report “suspected 
election frauds, irregularities, or violations of which the clerk has 
knowledge to the district attorney for the county where the suspected 
activity occurs and to the commission.”

The drop box was placed outside of City Hall and relabeled on Friday with 
the phrase “Official Drop Box” with the intention of using it to collect 
payments, ballots and other important requests, Bernarde wrote in a 
Wednesday afternoon news release. It was also locked and labeled, “Kiosk 
closed.”

“When City staff went to secure the drop box and open it for collection on 
Monday morning, it was reported that the drop box had been removed,” 
Bernarde said in the release. “The drop box was locked and did not have 
any ballots, payments, or other documents inside.”

The Wausau Daily Herald submitted an open records request to review any 
surveillance camera footage of Sunday’s incident but Bernarde said in the 
release that footage would not be released at this time "to not compromise 
any potential investigations."

Diny defended his actions to a Wausau Daily Herald reporter Tuesday, 
saying the box was unsecured Sunday and he was just moving it to safety.

“It was never installed. I relocated it into City Hall. It never left city 
property. Anybody could have driven by, thrown it on a truck and thrown it 
in the river for all anyone knows,” Diny said. “No different than if the 
maintenance man had wheeled it in for maintenance. It was sitting 
unsecured on the sidewalk so as a city employee and as the senior elected 
official here I wheeled it inside.”

The Wisconsin Supreme Court's July decision on Priorities USA v. WEC 
returned the right for Wisconsin municipal clerks to utilize drop boxes 
for absentee ballot collection.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission issued guidance on the decision that 
states, “the municipal clerk has the authority to designate drop box 
locations.”

The guidance cites the Priorities decision, which points to Wisconsin 
Statute 6.855. and says, “(the law) requires only that the ballot be 
delivered to a location the municipal clerk, within his or her discretion, 
designates.”

The Wisconsin Elections Commission shared in its guidance a reference to 
Wisconsin Statute 12.60(1)(a), which states that anyone who “by abduction, 
duress, or any fraudulent device or contrivance, impede(s) or prevent(s) 
the free exercise of the franchise at an election” could be guilty of a 
Class I felony. The Commission urged clerks to contact law enforcement if 
anyone tampers with, defaces, destroys, unlawfully empties, or interrupts, 
impedes or prevents the use of a drop box.

Bernarde said the drop box is not available while the investigation is 
ongoing. Voters may return absentee ballots directly to the clerk using 
the silver “Payment Box” in front of City Hall.

Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for 
USA TODAY NETWORK - Wisconsin and values his background as a rural 
Wisconsinite. Contact him at epfantz@gannett.com.

https://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/25
/wausau-clerk-reports-election-irregularity-after-absentee-ballot-drop-
box-removal-by-mayor-doug-diny/75384624007/

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Wausau clerk reports election irregularity to DA and Elections Commission after drop box removal by mayor "P. Coonan" <nospam@ix.netcom.com> - 2024-09-27 01:37 +0000

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