Doug Diny, the Republican mayor of Wausau, Wis., was working on Sunday when he saw a ballot drop box outside City Hall, where it had been placed under orders of the city clerk.
Mr. Diny thought the City Council should have been consulted — something the Wisconsin Supreme Court did not require in its July ruling granting the city clerk authority — and did not believe the box would be secure. So he walked outside, removed the box and carted it into his office.
His actions, which he documented with photos and which The Wausau Pilot & Review reported on Tuesday, is the latest example of a pattern that began around the 2020 election in response to Donald J. Trump’s baseless claims about voter fraud. In states from Michigan to Colorado, some Republican officials have scrutinized or interfered with election equipment, seeking evidence of fraud.
Mr. Diny said in an interview on Wednesday that he had a “philosophical difference of opinion” with the city clerk, Kaitlyn Bernarde, over whether it should have been up to her or the City Council to decide whether to install a drop box in Wausau, a city of about 40,000 people in central Wisconsin. The state Supreme Court ruling and subsequent guidance from the Wisconsin Elections Commission established that this authority rests with the clerk.
“I took steps as the senior elected official in the city to get some things corrected,” Mr. Diny said. Asked what those things were, he said, without giving details, that the box had not been installed in a way that complied with Wisconsin Elections Commission guidelines on security and monitoring.
Ms. Bernarde said in a statement on Wednesday that this was because the box was still in the process of being set up. Her office had planned to bolt it to the ground soon, before opening it for use. In the meantime, it was locked, and there was no way for anyone to put a ballot inside. (That can be seen in Mr. Diny’s photo, which shows a lock and a “kiosk closed” label on the box.)
When city employees arrived to secure the box on Monday, Ms. Bernarde said, it was gone because Mr. Diny had taken it. She said she reported the removal of the box to the district attorney of Marathon County and the Wisconsin Elections Commission, referring to a portion of state law that obligates municipal clerks to report suspected election fraud, irregularities or violations.
While the investigation is continuing, she said, the drop box will not be available, but voters can deposit ballots in a box outside City Hall that is normally used to collect payments.
Joe Oslund, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party who has been in contact with local officials, said that the state Democratic Party was not pursuing a lawsuit but that he hoped public pressure would compel Mr. Diny to return the box.
“Our interest is in getting the drop box back,” he said. “We don’t think it needs to go any further at this point.”
In its ruling, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found that state law permitted local election officials to install drop boxes around cities and towns, overturning a 2022 decision that had allowed absentee ballots to be returned only to clerks’ offices. The court said unequivocally that clerks had the authority to decide whether to install boxes. It did not grant any authority in the matter to City Councils or mayors.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission declined to comment on the legality of Mr. Diny’s actions because it will be tasked with reviewing any official complaint that is filed.
But after the court ruling, the commission released official guidance on the use of drop boxes. That guidance specified that municipal governing bodies do not have to be involved in setting drop box locations; clerks have the authority to do so unilaterally.
The City Council president, Lisa Rasmussen, did not respond to requests for comment from The New York Times but condemned Mr. Diny’s actions in an interview with The Wausau Pilot & Review.
“There is no place for elected officials to manage, alter or tamper with drop boxes, whether they agree with their use or not,” Ms. Rasmussen said. “I have voiced my concerns to the mayor about his conduct, and requested he return the box and issue a public apology to the clerk and the community.”
Mr. Diny was elected as mayor in April, defeating an incumbent, Katie Rosenberg. The mayoral race was officially nonpartisan, but Mr. Diny was endorsed by the Wisconsin Republican Party and Ms. Rosenberg by the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
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