WAUSAU, WIS. — Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney, acting as a special prosecutor, announced Wednesday that he will not file charges against Wausau Mayor Doug Diny for removing an absentee ballot drop box outside Wausau City Hall before any votes were cast in the 2024 election. Diny removed the drop box in September 2024, and the receptacle remained sealed and contained no ballots at the time of its removal.

In explaining his decision, Toney said the drop box did not meet Wisconsin's definition of a ballot box because it was intended as a receptacle for multiple city materials, including ballots and payments. He cited the Wisconsin Elections Commission in stating that ballot boxes are used at polling places rather than for returning absentee ballots. Wisconsin law prohibits breaking open a ballot box and tampering with ballots found inside, but because the drop box was sealed, empty, and did not qualify as a ballot box under state law, Toney concluded that no criminal statute had been violated.

Although city workers had not unlocked the drop box when Diny removed it, voters in Wausau had already started to receive their absentee ballots, according to city elections clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde. Diny returned the drop box to its position outside City Hall approximately one week after removing it, following questions from Bernarde about election integrity.

Diny said he moved the drop box into City Hall because it was not secured to the ground and could have been stolen. He posed for photos wearing a hard hat and work gloves while carrying out the removal. Diny had campaigned for the mayoral office on his opposition to absentee ballot drop boxes and received Republican backing during his campaign, though the Wausau mayor's position is officially nonpartisan.

Prior to Toney's announcement, a state Justice Department investigation had also found no basis for criminal charges against Diny. Separately, in October 2024, the Wausau ethics board determined that Diny had violated the city's ethics policy in connection with the removal.

The removal prompted debate across Wisconsin over whether communities should allow absentee ballot drop boxes. Toney is running against Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul in the November 2026 election.