Special prosecutor appointed to case where Wausau mayor rolled away ballot box
Marathon County District Attorney Kyle Mayo announced in a news release that he requested a special prosecutor to be appointed to the case due to conflicts of interest and to ensure full transparency and impartiality.
The announcement comes as the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation's investigation into Diny's removal of the drop box remains active and ongoing. No additional details about the investigation have been released.
As special prosecutor, Toney will review the DCI's investigation and determine if additional investigation is needed. Toney, a Republican, unsuccessfully ran for Attorney General in 2022.
The DOJ announced in October it would be leading 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 himself doing it.
Diny, a Republican, told the Wausau Daily Herald in September that he made the decision to move the drop box to safety after realizing it was not bolted down.
'It was never installed … Anybody could have driven by, thrown it on a truck and thrown it in the river for all anyone knows,' Diny said. 'It was sitting unsecured on the sidewalk so as a city employee and as the senior elected official here, I wheeled it inside.'
A day ofter Diny removed the drop box, City Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde, who approved the installation of the box, filed a report of "election irregularity." When the drop box had still not been returned to the clerk's office on Sept. 27, 2024, Bernarde filed a second report to the Marathon County District Court and delivered a letter to the mayor requesting the return of the drop box by noon that day.
In this letter, Bernarde also stated Diny removed the drop box before it could be secured and that his 'ongoing keeping and concealing of the drop box have infringed on my (Benarde's) office's ability to administer this election.'
Despite the drop box ultimately being returned and properly secured outside of city hall on Sept. 30, the DOJ opened an investigation into the incident just three days later.
While the DOJ's investigation remains ongoing, the Wausau Ethics Board ended its own investigation into the incident in July and has set a hearing date for 10 a.m. Sept. 5.
Ballot drop boxes have been at the center of partisan debate over election administration since the 2020 election when President Donald Trump spread false claims about Wisconsin's elections. Since then, conservative groups have sought to ban the use of ballot drop boxes, citing the law's silence on their use.
The state Supreme Court initially agreed to ban them but when liberal justices took control of the court, the panel reversed the ruling.
Anna Kleiber can be reached at akleiber@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Special prosecutor appointed in Wausau mayor ballot box removal case
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