Wisconsin was a pivotal state in the 2020 election, and could be again in 2024.
Absentee voting is optional in that state, at the voter’s choice with no reason required. For military personnel, travelers, persons working away from home (e.g., truck drivers and airline crews), the elderly and disabled, and voters without transportation or access to an in-person polling site, it may be the only way they can vote.
Republicans hate absentee and mail-in voting, with special animus toward drop boxes, and try to restrict it as much as possible. But some voters prefer using drop boxes to mailing their ballots, because there’s no chance of their votes getting lost or delayed in the mail.
There is no evidence for Republican claims that mail-in voting or drop boxes increase voting fraud, which in any case is extremely rare. For example, more 3.24 million people voted in Wisconsin’s 2020 election, and Biden won the state by more than 20,000 votes, but election officials found only 11 illegal votes (see story here).
That’s typical of all states; in Pennsylvania that year, in more than 6.85 million ballots there were 3 verified cases of voting fraud (details here).
But that doesn’t stop Republicans, who are driven by ideology and partisanship, not facts. Case in point: The mayor of Wausau, a city in north-central Wisconsin, a guy who ran for the office on a platform of opposing ballot drop boxes, just removed the lone drop box in his city five weeks before the 2024 election (see story here).
Mayor Doug Diny turned it into a photo-op. Dressed in suit and tie, and decked out in hardhat and neon-chartreuse work gloves, he carted off the drop box and incarcerated it inside city hall (see grainy photo below).
This, of course, was a political stunt by an attention-seeker. But it also may exceed his authority or even violate the law, although that ultimately would be for a judge to decide, if someone pursues the matter.
Regardless of its legality, Mayor Diny’s self-serving statement about it is pure unadulterated cowpucky: “This is no different than the maintenance guy moving it out there. I’m a member of staff. There’s nothing nefarious going on here. I’m hoping for a good result.” Let’s take these cowpies in order, one at a time.
- It is different from a maintenance guy moving it, because (a) this is not for maintenance purposes, and (b) it prevents voters from using it.
- He is not a member of staff, nor is he performing a staff function; he’s (c) an elected official making policy decisions, and (d) it’s for a political reason.
- You bet your Holstein’s spots it’s nefarious; the intent and purpose is to keep it from being used by voters.
- No good will come of this, unless he thinks fewer people voting is a “good result.”
What Mayor Diny has done is resort to self-help to enforce his own personal views on drop boxes, without any kind of process or public discussion, and in disregard of Wisconsin election laws relating to ballot drop boxes. He may be in trouble now: The district attorney has opened a criminal investigation (read that story here).
