Wausau ballot drop box stays in place after public weighs in on mayor briefly removing it

Wausau’s ballot drop box will remain in place without changes after the Wausau City Council rebuffed an attempt by the mayor to add funding for additional security.

Mayor Doug Diny attracted national attention after he had himself photographed wheeling away a ballot drop box from outside of City Hall in late September. The city attorney had found that under a July decision of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the clerk rather than the mayor or the City Council had broad discretion about placing it. Diny, who was elected mayor in April, opposed the use of the drop box.

The drop box was returned to its place days after the photographs went viral. The state Department of Justice is investigating Diny’s action.

At a meeting Tuesday, members of the public packed the City Hall chamber to offer comments both in opposition to and in support of the mayor.

But ultimately the city took no action and did not even discuss the mayor’s proposal to add $3,000 to address what Diny called “inadequate nighttime lighting.”

In comments at the Tuesday meeting, Diny said he felt he was authorized to move the ballot box by a Wisconsin statute that states that the mayor is the city’s chief executive officer. He cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, but also indicated that he did not intend to further impede the use of the drop box.

“The box is now out there under the charge of the clerk, and the decision as to whether that ever gets changed will have to be for another venue and another day,” Diny said.

The use of ballot drop boxes became politically charged during the 2020 presidential election, when the COVID-19 pandemic led to a spike in absentee voting. After Democrat Joe Biden narrowly won the state, the campaign of Republican Donald Trump challenged the results as part of Trump’s broader campaign to overturn the election. In Wisconsin, some legal challenges focused on the use of absentee ballot drop boxes. 

Trump lost his legal challenge of Wisconsin’s results in December 2020, but some justices did support the campaign’s view that drop boxes were unlawful. In 2022, the state Supreme Court’s conservative majority largely banned the use of drop boxes. But a 2023 election that shifted the ideological balance of the court led to a new legal challenge and the July decision, which effectively legalized them and gave clerks authority to administer them.

This year, Wisconsin’s pivotal role in the presidential election between Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has led to even more scrutiny of voting methods and election security. Diny, a Republican who defeated a Democratic incumbent in the nominally nonpartisan Wausau mayor’s race, attracted attention from both political allies and opponents when he removed the ballot drop, which was empty and locked at the time.

In more than an hour of public comment, speakers repeatedly made reference to the unwelcome spotlight the event brought to Wausau after the story was picked up by national and international news outlets.

“I feel terrible for this community that we are this divided and this angry over a drop box issue,” said commenter Christine Salm, who opposed the mayor’s action. 

Others blamed proponents for the division.

“It’s unfortunate that unelected officials and politically motivated members of the City Council have shrugged off the concerns of their constituents and instead have worked behind the scenes to block the mayor’s effort” to remove the drop box, said commenter Maggie Cronin.

The conflict also stoked division between the mayor and the council. In comments Tuesday, Diny said council members, who view the drop box placement as the clerk’s decision, did not want to discuss a proposed resolution. He called his proposal to add $3,000 for security “the minimum” action.

But when that resolution came up, no member of council supported the procedural action required to take a vote. That appeared to catch Diny by surprise.

“Seriously?” he asked as the resolution died. “Wow.”