Wausau Mayor Doug Diny moving an absentee ballot dropbox. Image courtesy: Doug Diny
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – I don’t care what the diaper-babies on our state Supreme Court say. Their ruling last summer that re-allowed ballot drop boxes in the state was wrong.
It is the state legislature that makes election law in Wisconsin. And not once, ever, has our legislature passed a bill that says ballots may be delivered to drop boxes. The liberal court made up a law that they favored but doesn’t exist: drop boxes are allowed because the legislature didn’t specifically prohibit them. Under that weak-brained reasoning, what prohibits me from deciding that I want to deliver my ballot by carrier pigeon?
Everyone knows that drop boxes are actually ballot harvesting receptacles. It’s the only way that a ballot harvester – like whoever engineered the votes of those with dementia in Racine County – could get those ballots into the system. Those votes get placed into a drop box when no one is looking.
Wausau Mayor Doug Diny observed that the drop box placed outside city hall by clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde was not bolted to the ground; it was not secure. He carted it away, leading to ginned up outrage. Clerk Bernarde’s actions since the drop box was carted away deserve extra scrutiny. She’s referred the matter to the District Attorney’s office, which is a breathtaking misjudgement. It is, indeed, a crime for local officials to interfere with an election. But Bernarde also states that no ballots had been deposited in the drop box. Early voting has not yet begun in Wisconsin. So how has the mayor interfered with an election that hasn’t started yet? There is no criminal aspect to this case. Anyone who suggests otherwise is nutty.
The Mayor is the CEO of Wausau. The city clerk – a non-elected position – answers to the mayor. The city attorney, who opined against removing the drop box, is also an appointed position. Her opinions are advisory and are not binding on city officials.
Anyone who votes absentee can put their ballot into the U.S. mail and have it delivered to City Hall. There is also faux controversy that the postal service won’t deliver the ballots on time. Well, of course, a ballot can’t be put into the mail a day or two before Election Day. And yet I pay my bills and my taxes through the U.S. mail. They’ve never once been lost or misdirected.
Absentee ballot drop boxes are an election integrity issue. In a state where the voting is likely to be very close, these things matter. Mayor Diny is right on the facts and on the issue. He should ignore his whining critics.
Comments