Mayor cleared in ballot box investigation
Why? Basically, because the ballot box was actually a drop box
The Wausonian was the first to report that Mayor Doug Diny removed a ballot box from the steps of Wausau city hall on a Sunday in 2024. The box was intended to collect absentee ballots eventually, though at the time it was locked and not secured to the ground, as it was awaiting installation by city workers on Monday.
This week, a year and a half after The Wausonian broke the news, a state investigation into the incident has concluded it doesn’t have probable cause to press charges.
That comes on the heels of a relatively toothless ethics board decision against the mayor, declaring that he had violated the city’s ethics policies but essentially telling him not to do it again.
The decision hinges on the fact that the state largely didn’t consider it a ballot box at all, but a drop box. And the report details a rejection of a recommended charge from the now-former district attorney Theresa Wetzsteon on the initial search warrant.
Many news outlets reported on the decision but few dived into the details of the report, which is much more lengthy than the short press release the Fond du Lac County DA just released.
We’ll get into those details and explain why prosecutors ultimately choose not to bring a case.
