Wausau city clerk testifies mayor removed absentee ballot drop box before it was secured

Caitlin Bernardi, the appointed city clerk for Wausau, testified that she directed Department of Public Works staff to deploy and secure an absentee ballot drop box in front of City Hall for the Nov. 5, 2024 election and that Mayor Doug Denny later removed the box and kept it in his office before returning it to the clerk’s custody.

Bernardi said she had decided to redeploy the box after a July 2024 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision restored clerks’ authority to use secure drop boxes and that the city intended to have the unit secured and operational by Monday, Sept. 30. "I directed DPW staff on Monday ... to secure the box as planned ... before the box was open for people to return their absentee ballots, and that it was secured to the ground," Bernardi told the panel.

The clerk said the box was placed outside City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 19; at that time it was locked and labeled "kiosk closed," and she said no ballots were inside. "Since the drop box was closed and locked, no ballots could be accepted," Bernardi said in an…