WAUSAU, Wis. — The Wausau Common Council will officially take up a resolution regarding use of absentee ballot drop boxes at its regular meeting on Tuesday, October 8.
The resolution comes at the request of Mayor Doug Diny to direct the city clerk to not use the city’s lone drop box for ballots submitted for the November election. This stems from an incident on September 22 when Diny donned a hard hat and work gloves as he removed the newly placed drop box from City Hall, stating that he and the city clerk never discussed its usage before it was placed. He removed the box because he felt it was “unsecure” and that the Common Council should make the final decision on its usage.
In an email to Bernarde on September 25, Diny questions why Bernarde, who as a non-elected municipal clerk is “accountable to the supervisory staff and the mayor”, “disregard[ed] my directive to seek advice and consent from the council in the matter of placing, securing, monitoring, and taking the pulse of residents regarding the drop box.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) both ruled earlier this year that the authority for ballot drop boxes rests solely with municipal clerks. City Clerk Bernarde issued a statement clarifying that the drop box was locked and didn’t have any ballots inside. Bernarde reported the removal to the Marathon County District Attorney and the WEC for potential legal action.
Bernarde then officially requested Diny return the absentee ballot drop box in a timely manner, or that she would consider the action as “intentionally interfering with an election.” While Diny missed the originally requested deadline, the drop box was returned on October 1 and secured according to the guidelines provided by the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
In a letter to the Common Council on October 3, Bernarde states that the original absentee ballot drop box was installed and secured in 2020 and used for 5 elections without incident until April 2024 “when Mayor Diny demanded it be removed.” She also outlined the measures she took to have the box secured and monitored.
The City Clerk did refer the incident to the Wisconsin Elections Commission and the Marathon County District Attorney’s office for review. The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation is also investigating the case. City Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde is requesting that the Common Council not take up the resolution as it would be “improper for the governing body to vote on this matter.”
