Wausau’s newly-elected mayor, Doug Diny, who ran on the issue of election security, found himself in potential legal trouble after removing a ballot drop box which was placed outside of Wausau’s City Hall building Sunday evening. Diny took a picture of the removal, wearing a hard hat and work gloves, as he moved the drop box on a dolly to the inside of the building.
Diny told CNN this week that his removal of the drop box was “no different than the maintenance guys moving it out there.” He went on to say, “there’s nothing nefarious going on here.”
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. Additionally, Wausau’s City Clerk Kaitlyn 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.
On Thursday’s legal edition of the Political Power Hour on 620 WTMJ with Steve Scaffidi, former Milwaukee County Judge Mary Kuhnmuench called the action illegal, saying, “the ends never justify the means, there’s some segment of our community and our country, where that seems to be falling on deaf ears, and it leads to all kinds of chaos and problems.”
It is currently a felony in the State of Wisconsin to impede or prevent “the free exercise of the franchise at an election.”
