Politics in the Badger State is never exactly "quiet," but things hit a whole new level of weird in Wausau recently. You might’ve seen the photo. A guy in a suit, wearing a hard hat and a bright yellow construction jacket, using a dolly to wheel a massive metal box away from City Hall.
That wasn't a city worker. It was the Mayor.
The Wisconsin mayor ballot box saga became a national flashpoint almost overnight. It wasn't just about a piece of hardware; it was about who actually runs an election and whether a mayor can override a clerk. Honestly, it’s the kind of local drama that has massive implications for how we vote in 2026 and beyond.
The Sunday "Heist" in a Hard Hat
On September 22, 2024, Wausau Mayor Doug Diny decided he’d seen enough. The city's only absentee ballot drop box had been placed outside City Hall by the clerk, Kaitlyn Bernarde. It wasn't bolted down yet because a contractor was still scheduled to finish the job.
Diny took a stand. Literally.
He carted the box into his office and locked it up. He even had photos taken of the event—sorta like a victory lap. The mayor claimed he was worried about security, suggesting the box was vulnerable to being "thrown into the river" or tampered with since it wasn't secured to the pavement yet.
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But there was a major catch. The city attorney had already told him he didn't have the legal authority to touch it. In Wisconsin, the clerk is the boss of the ballot.
Why the Clerk Had the Power
Under a critical Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling from July 2024 (Priorities USA v. Wisconsin Elections Commission), the court flipped its previous stance. They decided that ballot drop boxes are legal and, crucially, that the municipal clerk has the "statutorily-conferred discretion" to use them.
Not the mayor. Not the city council. Just the clerk.
When Diny moved the box, he wasn't just moving furniture; he was stepping into a legal minefield. Clerk Bernarde ended up reporting the incident as an "election irregularity." For about a week, the box sat in the mayor's office while the city erupted in debate.
The Fallout: Ethics, Fines, and Investigations
You can't just wheel away a ballot box and expect everyone to move on. By October 2025, the Wausau Ethics Board finally finished their look into the whole mess. They didn't hold back.
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In a unanimous vote, the board ruled that Mayor Diny violated the city's ethics code. They found he "exceeded his lawful authority."
- The Verdict: The board ordered Diny to stop interfering with the clerk's duties.
- The Punishment: Surprisingly, they didn't fine him or ask the council to kick him out. They basically gave him a formal "don't do it again" and told him to follow the rules.
- The Criminal Side: While the ethics board is done, the legal system might not be. Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney was assigned to look into whether any criminal laws were broken.
It’s worth noting that Diny is a conservative who won a nonpartisan race by ousting a liberal incumbent. This whole thing wasn't happening in a vacuum—it was part of a much bigger, nastier fight over how Wisconsin handles its swing-state status.
Clearing Up the Confusion Around Ballot Boxes
There is a ton of misinformation floating around about what these boxes actually do. People think they’re just "unsupervised buckets," but that's not how it works in reality.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) put out some pretty specific "best practices" after the court made them legal again. They recommended that boxes be permanently bolted down (the irony here is thick), located in well-lit areas, and emptied frequently by two people.
What most people get wrong:
A lot of folks think anyone can drop off any ballot. Nope. In Wisconsin, you generally have to drop off your own ballot. There are narrow exceptions for people with disabilities, but "ballot harvesting"—where one person collects dozens of votes—is still a huge legal no-no in the state.
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Why This Matters for Future Elections
Wausau is a mid-sized city of about 40,000 people. If a mayor there can unilaterally decide to remove a voting option, what happens in a bigger city like Green Bay or Kenosha?
That’s why the Wisconsin mayor ballot box controversy stayed in the headlines for so long. It was a test case for "clerk autonomy." If the mayor had "won" this fight, it would have set a precedent that any elected official could mess with election gear if they didn't like the security setup.
Instead, the ethics ruling reinforced a wall between politicians and the people who actually run the voting machines.
Actionable Steps for Wisconsin Voters
If you're worried about where your ballot goes or how to use a drop box safely, here’s how to handle it:
- Verify your box location: Don't just assume a box is official. Check MyVote.wi.gov to find the authorized drop-off points for your specific municipality.
- Check the rules on "return assistance": If you are helping a friend or family member, make sure you're following the latest court guidelines. Generally, it's safest to only handle your own ballot unless there's a documented disability involved.
- Monitor the timeline: Drop boxes are usually opened a few weeks before an election and locked at exactly 8:00 PM on Election Night. Don't wait until the last second.
- Report interference: If you see someone hovering around a box in a way that feels like intimidation, or if a box looks tampered with, call your municipal clerk immediately. They are the ones with the power to fix it.
The Wausau incident was a weird, suit-and-hard-hat chapter in Wisconsin history, but it ended with a very clear message: the law protects the process, even from the people in charge.