Wausau Mayor Doug Diny moving an absentee ballot dropbox. Image courtesy: Doug Diny
FOND du LAC, WI (WSAU) — Some 560 days after Wausau Mayor Doug Diny wheeled a locked, unsecured municipal dropbox into City Hall after it was left outside over a weekend, the last legal proceeding against him has been closed.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney has released the findings of a bipartisan review of the case, saying no charges will be filed against the Mayor due to “an inability to prove any violations beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The box in question had been placed outside City Hall late Friday. Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde had intended for the box to be bolted to the sidewalk and opened to receive completed absentee ballots ahead of the 2024 Presidential Election. Diny wheeled the box inside, noting anyone could have walked off with it. Others felt that the action violated election laws.
Toney’s statement acknowledged the heated nature of the issue, but said the decision was not to favor one side or the other. “There are some that wanted charges issued based on politics and others that did not want charges issued based on politics. However, the facts are the facts, and the law is the law, no matter how badly someone may wish for a result, our duty is to follow the facts and the law, not politics or emotions. Partisan politics has no place in the justice system, and we will not in engage in lawfare.”
Former Door County District Attorney Joan Korb (D) assisted Toney, a Republican, in reviewing the case. Assistant DA Kennedy Cutts also participated in the review.
The issue was also the subject of a lengthy investigation by the city’s Ethics Board, which found a violation but didn’t hand down a punishment, only compelling Diny to “conform his actions to the requirements of the City of Wausau’s Ethics Code.”
RELATED: Diny Releases Statement, Ethics Board Report Following Dropbox Decision
When reached for comment, Mayor Diny said he was aware of the decision but wasn’t ready to give a statement.
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