Nearly a year after Wausau Mayor Doug Diny’s removal of the city’s sole absentee ballot drop box located outside of city hall, investigations into the drop box, its removal and return continue.
Here’s what you need to know about Wausau’s ongoing ballot box saga.
WEC dismisses drop box complaint, says city officials did not violate the law
The Wisconsin Elections Commission dismissed a complaint filed against several Wausau city officials regarding the city’s sole absentee ballot drop box in a unanimous decision on May 27.
In a complaint filed last October, Wausau residents Marie and Steven Schmidt alleged multiple irregularities, including inadequate labeling, lighting and security measures for the drop box. Wausau City Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde, Deputy Clerk Kory Hart and Finance Director Maryanne Groat were named in the complaint.
In its May 27 ruling, the commission found that city officials did not violate the law or abuse their discretion in establishing and operating the drop box.
The commission found the drop box acceptable as officials properly secured the box to the ground throughout its use and there were no allegations that ballots deposited in the drop box were not properly accounted for and processed on Election Day.
Additionally, the commission rejected allegations related to security measures for the drop box, noting there were clear camera views of the drop box and adequate lighting illuminating the area surrounding it. The ruling also stated the city correctly labeled the drop box with an 8 p.m. deadline on Election Day.
Despite the dismissal of the case, the commissionors did, however, recognize the initial labeling concerns the Schmidts outlined in the complaint. City officials initially labeled the drop box slot “payments” and did not mention absentee ballots.
On Oct. 23, the city updated the label to explicitly reference absentee ballots for clarity — the new label reading “absentee ballots, payments and correspondence.”
DOJ investigation remains ongoing, special prosecutor appointed to case
The Wisconsin Department of Justice announced in October it would lead an investigation into Diny’s Sept. 22 removal of the drop box, when he publicly wheeled away the city’s sole ballot drop box located outside of Wausau City Hall and published a photograph of him doing it.
Mayor Doug Diny shared this image in an email to Lisa Rasmussen, council president and 7th district alderperson, after she asked him about security camera footage she had become aware of regarding the removal of the city’s absentee ballot drop box.
In August, Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney was appointed to serve as special prosecutor in the DOJ’s ongoing investigation.
Marathon County District Attorney Kyle Mayo requested a special prosecutor due to conflicts of interest and to ensure full transparency and impartiality.
Toney, a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for attorney general in 2022, has said he believes the use of ballot drop boxes is illegal and wanted the state Supreme Court to outlaw them.
In 2022, Toney told conservative radio host Dan O’Donnell he does not believe ballot drop boxes are legal.
“I think the Waukesha judge that restricted ballot drop boxes got it right. The Court of Appeals obviously disagreed, and thankfully, we have a Supreme Court here in Wisconsin that I’m hopeful will come to essentially the same conclusion as the judge in Waukesha and will limit the use of ballot drop boxes,” Toney said, referring to an initial circuit court ruling that invalidated their use.
The conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled later that year that the use of drop boxes wasn’t legal, but that ruling was overturned in 2024 by the court’s new liberal majority.
As special prosecutor, Toney will be responsible for reviewing the DCI’s investigation and determining if additional investigation is needed.
Despite the drop box ultimately being returned and properly secured outside of city hall on Sept. 30, the Wisconsin Department of Justice opened an investigation into the incident just three days later.
Hearing for ethics complaint investigation findings delayed
The Wausau Ethics Board ended its own investigation into the incident in July.
The city’s ethics board set a hearing date for 10 a.m. Sept. 5, however, it has since been delayed. While no new hearing date has been set, the hearing is now planned to take place on or before Oct. 10.
The delay will allow the board to respond to new pretrial motions made Sept. 2 by Diny, for finalization of the agreed statement of facts by witnesses and for Bernarde and City Attorney Anne Jacobson to sit for depositions.
Anna Kleiber can be reached at akleiber@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about investigations into removal of Wisconsin drop box