UPDATED: Did the mayor illegally remove a ballot box?

The city council is in an uproar over a photo showing Diny moving the box

In a photo obtained by The Wausonian, Wausau Mayor Doug Diny moves an absentee ballot box.

UPDATED: More details from Diny, and the news about a video coming soon.

There are two new stories since this was published:

Wausau Mayor Doug Diny’s ballot box removal becomes national news

State investigating Wausau Mayor Doug Diny’s removal of absentee ballot box

City leaders are in an uproar over Wausau Mayor Doug Diny removing a ballot box from the front of City Hall and into a secure location.

City Council President Lisa Rasmussen, in an email thread received by The Wausonian, questioned Diny over allegations she’d heard that Diny had moved the ballot box overnight from outside into his office at city hall. The city attorney and police chief were CC’ed on the email.

Diny, in the thread received by The Wausonian, is seen in a photo (included above) wearing a suit and hard hat, wheeling the ballot box somewhere on the steps of City Hall.

The state Supreme Court ruled recently that absentee ballot boxes were legal. City Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde placed the ballot box outside city hall. The placement of the boxes, according to the ruling, is at the sole discretion of municipal clerks, and boxes are to go directly to them.

The Wausonian asked about the allegations that Diny on Sunday night moved the ballot box from city hall into his office. He responded with the same sentence he sent to Rasmussen.