US DOJ to monitor Wausau polling locations Tuesday

U.S. law enforcement will be monitoring Wausau polling locations and other locations in the Western District, the U.S. Department of Justice says. 

Those officials will monitor polling locations in Wausau, and the towns of Thornapple and Lawrence in the Western District, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Any infractions of federal election laws will be reported to the authorities, according to a DOJ press release. 

The press release did not say why additional monitoring was being added to those locations, and the press release has no contact information for further questions. 

Wausau made national news when Wausau Mayor Diny removed an absentee ballot dropbox from the steps of city hall and put it out of public site. The incident eventually sparked a state DOJ investigation, which resulted in Diny’s home and office being raided. 

A Wausau couple since has filed a Wisconsin Elections Complaint against city clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde, pointing out several of her actions around the ballot box don’t comport with best practices advocated by the state, including that the ballot box should only be for ballots, and not a multi-purpose box. 

A federal court in early October filed a preliminary injunction against the town of Thornapple to comply with voting access laws, saying the town didn’t provide the same private voting opportunity that it did for able-bodied residents.

No information is available on why the US DOJ might be monitoring the town Lawrence.