Wausau board: Mayor violated ethics policy when he removed ballot drop box

The Wausau Ethics Board says the city’s mayor violated city policy when he carted away a ballot drop box that had been placed outside City Hall ahead of last November’s election.

In an unanimous vote Wednesday night, members of the appointed city board concluded Mayor Doug Diny broke the city ethics code when he removed the ballot drop box from public view and put it inside his locked office.

Specifically, the board concluded Diny had “exceeded his lawful authority.”

Diny chose to take the drop box, despite being advised by the city attorney that the city clerk — and not the mayor — has discretion over whether and how the city should use ballot drop boxes, the board noted.

Ethics board did not impose fines or recommend removal

In its conclusion, the ethics board did not choose to impose fines on Diny. It also declined to recommend that the City Council take steps to censure, suspend or remove Diny from office.

Instead, the findings say that Diny must adjust his conduct so that he follows the city’s ethics policy going forward.

“Diny is ordered to refrain from interfering, intervening, or in any manner inhibiting the City Clerk in her exercise of her duties in the administration of elections, including with regard to the placement of any absentee ballot drop box in the City of Wausau,” a statement signed by Ethics Board Chair Calvin Dexter says.

Diny has previously said he chose to take the box away because he had concerns about its security.

“I’ve read the decision, and I certainly don’t agree with every conclusion they reached,” the mayor said in a statement Thursday. “I am very pleased that the City of Wausau can now move on from this issue.”

After donning a suit and a hard hat, Diny used a dolly to cart away the drop box on Sept. 22. Diny later shared a photo of himself wheeling away the box with reporters.

When Diny took it away, the box was locked and did not have any ballots inside. Although the box was not ready to accept ballots, it had been placed outside City Hall in preparation for early voting. At the time, the box had not yet been bolted to the sidewalk because there were plans for a contractor to do additional work on the box, according to the city clerk.

After an uproar, Diny returned the box to a maintenance garage on Sept. 29, and it was made available to voters starting on Sept. 30.

A former member of the Wausau City Council, Diny won election to the mayor’s office in April 2024. The race was officially nonpartisan, but Diny ran as a conservative when he ousted the more-liberal incumbent Katie Rosenberg.

Voting rights group celebrates ethics board decision

All Voting is Local, a voting rights advocacy group, celebrated the ethics’ board decision this week.

“We applaud the Wausau Ethics Board for holding Mayor Diny accountable for his destructive actions,” the group’s Wisconsin state director,  Sam Liebert, said in a statement. “By dressing up in a hard hat and posing for a picture of himself wheeling away the drop box, Mayor Diny took part in a cynical and political stunt that negatively affected Wausau voters.”

Brittany Vulich, the Wisconsin campaign director for All Voting is Local, says she hopes the ethics board’s findings inspire more local clerks to offer ballot drop boxes.

“Drop boxes are incredibly popular … and they offer a greater access to elections, especially for those who are not able to wait in lines on Election Day,” Vulich said in an interview with WPR. “They are safe. They are secure.”

Criminal investigation opened into mayor’s actions

Meanwhile, Fond Du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney has been assigned to investigate whether Diny’s actions broke criminal laws.

Toney is a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for Wisconsin attorney general. Toney has also said previously that he believes  ballot drop boxes are illegal under state law.

Marathon County DA Kyle Mayo announced this summer that he had tapped Toney to lead the investigation. Mayo cited conflicts of interest within Marathon County.

Ballot drop boxes have drawn partisan battles in Wisconsin

Ballot drop boxes have long been a partisan issue in swing-state Wisconsin.

In July 2024, the state Supreme Court restored access to ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin. That 5-4 decision came after the court flipped to liberal control. It reversed a 2022 ruling in which the court’s then-conservative majority imposed a ban on the drop boxes.

Under the 2024 ruling, clerks are not required to provide drop boxes to voters returning their absentee ballots. Instead, the ruling clarifies that local clerks can choose whether to provide drop boxes as an option in their communities. Under Wisconsin law, voters may also return absentee ballots by mail or by dropping them off at a clerk’s office or polling place.

This week, a group of Republican state lawmakers introduced a bill that would once again ban ballot drop boxes from being used in Wisconsin.

Even if that proposal clears the GOP-controlled Legislature, it would be sure to face a veto from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.