Vice President Kamala Harris joined a bevy of popular music stars in Madison Wednesday night at the Alliant Center to encourage University of Wisconsin students to vote. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

Vice President Kamala Harris joined a bevy of popular music stars in Madison Wednesday night at the Alliant Center to encourage University of Wisconsin students and other young people to vote for her over former President Donald Trump.

Wisconsin is a key battleground state and both presidential campaigns are spending a lot of  time here with less than a week to go before Election Day. The last two presidential elections were decided by fewer than 20,000 votes in Wisconsin and the vote is expected to be close again this year. The same day Harris appeared  in Madison, one of the largest Democratic hubs in the state, Trump held a rally in Green Bay. Both candidates will return to Wisconsin Friday to hold dueling rallies in Milwaukee.

College students, including those from out of state, are eligible to vote in Wisconsin and could play an important role in deciding the results of the presidential election. Harris spoke directly to them.

“You all are rightly impatient for change. You who have only known the climate crisis are leading the charge to protect our planet and our future. You, who grew up with active shooter drills, are fighting to keep our schools safe. You who now know fewer rights than your mother or grandmothers, are standing up for freedom,” Harris declared from the Alliant Energy Center stage, speaking in front of a massive “Badgers for Harris-Walz” sign. “This is not political for you,” Harris added. “This is your lived experience.” 

Harris encouraged people to use the last six days before Election Day to vote, knock on doors, make calls and reach out to family and friends. Early in-person voting in Madison goes through Sunday and Election Day is Tuesday.

Some of the students at the rally had already voted early for Harris. Maya Wille, a UW-Madison senior who had Harris’ face temporary-tattooed on her bicep, said she’s excited by the prospect of  electing the first woman president of the United States and said Harris is “for the young people.”

“I want to be able to buy a house. I want to be able to raise a family and I think that she has policies that are going to make that a lot easier. I want gun control. I want better funding for public schools,” Wille said. 

The potential impact of voting in a swing state is what encouraged Hannah Tuckett, a UW junior from New York, and Lucy Murdock, a junior from Colorado, to vote in Wisconsin this year.

“I’m from Colorado, a historically blue state. My parents are always like, it’s so much more important for you to vote here than there,” Murdock said. “Both of us voted here, rather than in our home state, because we understand that, like, this is where we’re gonna make a way bigger splash.”

Murdock said human rights issues, including protecting women’s and transgender people’s right to health care, people’s right to marry whoever they want and addressing climate change, are the “guiding forces” behind her politics. 

“I think in this election human rights are more prevalent than they have been in several years,” Murdock said. 

Tuckett said voting in Wisconsin is “empowering” and she has been “inspired” by Harris and her campaign. She said the rally was also an opportunity to be in community with like-minded people and served as a “breath of fresh air” away from campus. She said certain events and political messaging on campus, including a visit from conservative radio host Charlie Kirk, have created a polarized environment.

The campaign brought a line-up of popular musical artists, including folk band Mumford and Sons, singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams, Aaron Dessner and Matt Berninger of The National and singer-songwriter Remi Wolf, to perform ahead of Harris at the rally, in front of more than  13,000 attendees. The campaign is betting the artists can serve as a trusted voice, delivering the message to fans to vote for Harris and to increase enthusiasm.

Tuckett said Mumford and Sons is her dad’s favorite artist. 

“I’m here, listening to them for him. He said he would have flown from New York to be here for this. I’m super excited,” Tuckett said. She said the endorsements from “not just artists, but actors, athletes, any person with some sort of platform coming out and endorsing Harris for president just shows that this election really does mean so much.”

Abrams, who has grown a loyal fanbase and who has opened for artists including Taylor Swift, spoke directly to young people while making the case for Harris. She called Harris “the right leader at a very tricky time.” 

“For many of us, here on this stage and in the crowd tonight, this is only the first or second time that we’ve had the privilege of voting in a presidential election, and as we know, we’ve inherited a world that is struggling and it’s easy to be disconnected and disillusioned. Between the advent of social media in our childhood and COVID and relentlessly targeted disinformation, we’ve been through some things and it’s easy to be discouraged, but we know better,” Abrams said. 

“We know unless we vote and keep our democracy intact there will be nothing we can do to fix it when it is our turn,” Abrams continued. “We have values and ideas that deserve a platform. We know that a better, greener, more fair, equitable and just future is possible. We understand that community matters, that character matters, that basic decency matters. That dignity matters. That democracy matters.” 

Even before the rally began, attendees tapped into the current pop culture moment. A station was set up inside the venue to make friendship bracelets (a trend popularized by Swift fans) and attendees wore ‘Kamala is brat’ t-shirts — a reference to a post by musician Charli xcx. Many in the audience also wore Harris-Walz camo hats.

Emma Heisch, a freshman at UW-Madison and Wisconsin native, was making a bracelet before the start of the rally when she told the Examiner about a conversation she had with her roommates last week about the importance of celebrities joining Harris on the campaign. 

“A lot of people have been saying that they think it’s unprofessional and it’s a silly tactic but I don’t think that at all,” Heisch said. “Their support reaches out to a lot of Gen Z and it can make a lot of young people, who may not have originally been interested in politics, start to show interest. And even people who may not have been very interested in coming to the rally specifically for politics in the first place might come just for a celebrity and then show interest in what Kamala has to say.”

Heisch voted for the first time this year. She said reproductive rights is one of her top issues. The issue was another big point of the night with Harris receiving thunderous applause and cheers during the rally as she committed to signing a bill to restore protections for reproductive health care access if one is sent to her by Congress.

“I’m a woman and I want control over my body and I don’t think anyone should have that control except for me,” Heisch said.

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA - AUGUST 23: Former Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives remarks at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel on August 23, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona.Kennedy announced that he was suspending his presidential campaign and supporting Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump.(Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

With early voting underway in Wisconsin and a week before Election Day, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an effort Tuesday by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be removed from the state’s ballots.

Kennedy, an independent, was placed on the presidential ballot after filing paperwork on Aug. 6, which included the signatures of thousands of Wisconsin voters who wanted him to run. He dropped out of the presidential election less than three weeks later and endorsed former President Donald Trump. He then launched an effort to be removed from Wisconsin’s ballot.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission was the first to deny his request to be kept off the ballot; officials cited state law requiring anyone who files the paperwork be placed on the ballot. Kennedy filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court last week after other appeals failed at appellate and state Supreme Courts. His name had already been printed on ballots with some being mailed out as the effort took place. In-person early voting in Wisconsin also started last week. 

Kennedy argued in his lawsuit that keeping him on the ballot violates his First Amendment right to endorse Trump. His attorneys had also argued that his name could be covered with a sticker, pointing to a state statute that allows clerks to do so if a candidate dies before the election takes place. Election officials warned voting machines hadn’t been tested with stickers and they could cause the machines to break. 

The U.S. Supreme Court did not explain its decision to reject the request. The Court also denied Kennedy’s effort to be removed from Michigan’s ballot on Tuesday.

Six third-party candidates, including Kennedy, Jill Stein and Cornel West, will appear on ballots in Wisconsin, a key battleground state, and are seen as potential spoilers in the presidential election because they could siphon votes from the major party candidates in what appears to be a very close race.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the number of third-party candidates on ballots in Wisconsin. 

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Green Party candidate Jill Stein, seen here in 2016.(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The Republican-connected Badger Values PAC is spending in Wisconsin to boost Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, according to a report from the Washington Post. 

The spending is a sign that some think third party presidential candidates in Wisconsin, a key battleground state, could influence the outcome of the contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Three third-party candidates — Stein, Robert F. Kennedy and Cornel West — will appear on Wisconsin ballots, though Kennedy, who has been seen as a potential spoiler for Trump, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to get his name removed since he dropped out and endorsed Trump, filing his appeal after early voting started in the state.

Stein, who remained on the ballot in Wisconsin after the state Supreme Court decided not to hear a challenge brought by Democrats, is seen as a potential spoiler for Harris. 

Wisconsin’s election results are known for being close with the last two presidential elections decided by about 20,000 votes. A recent Marquette University Law School poll released on Oct. 16 found that the presidential race nationally remains extremely tight, with Harris being the choice for 48% of likely voters and Republican former President Donald Trump is the choice of 47% among likely voters.

Mailers sent by Badger Values PAC this year in Wisconsin have been attacking Vice President Kamala Harris, while speaking favorably of Stein. 

“As President, JILL STEIN Would End Pollution in Our Great Lakes and Rivers,” one mailer stated. “Kamala Harris and Co. Don’t Care About Our Environment. VOTE FOR JILL STEIN by November 5th.”

The independent group registered with the FEC on Sept. 24 to spend on federal elections, and has the same address and treasurer as a group by the same name that registered in Wisconsin in July 2022. Badger Values PAC spent $407,483 during the 2022 Wisconsin attorney general race, including $137,000 on television ads to support Adam Jarchow, a former state representative, during the Republican primary. During that campaign, Jarchow described himself as “pro-life,” saying that an 1849 criminal law should be enforced to ban abortion in the state.

Les Williamson, the group’s treasurer, has worked for Republican groups in the past, including working for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and serving as treasurer to other super PACs that supported Republicans in races in New Hampshire and this year’s Montana Senate race. 

As of Oct. 25, the group has spent about $982,900 on 2024 federal elections, including about $307,000 for Stein. 

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) said in a statement responding to news of the spending that Stein has no chance of winning, but Republicans think she could deliver a win for Trump. The DNC has also recently launched ads in Wisconsin, as well as other swing states, against Stein. 

“That’s why Republicans are spending heavily in battleground states like Wisconsin to prop up her spoiler candidacy and manipulate voters,” DNC Communications Advisor Lis Smith said. “Republican operatives like Badger Values PAC couldn’t make it any clearer — a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump.”

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Wisconsin State Capitol (Wisconsin Examiner photo)

Control of the Wisconsin State Senate is unlikely to change this year even with new legislative maps in place, as only half of the seats are up for election. However, a handful of the Senate races will be key to determining how much the current 22-seat Republican supermajority changes and will set the stage for either Republicans or Democrats to win the majority in the 2026 election cycle.

Wisconsin’s state legislative races are the most competitive they’ve been in over a decade due to the new legislative maps that were adopted in February after the state Supreme Court ruled the old maps were an unconstitutional gerrymander. Democrats are running candidates in all 16 Senate seats up for election, while Republicans are running in 11 districts. Senators serve for four-year terms and make a salary of $57,000 per year. 

With just over two weeks until Election Day, the Wisconsin Examiner took a look at four state Senate races, which are among the most competitive, happening across the state.

Senate District 8

The race for Senate District 8 pits Republican Sen. Duey Stroebel against Democrat Jodi Habush Sinykin, an attorney and environmental advocate from Whitefish Bay. The district sits north of Milwaukee and includes Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, Bayside, River Hills, Menomonee Falls, Germantown, Mequon, Cedarburg, Grafton and Port Washington.

An analysis by John Johnson, a fellow at Marquette Law School, shows the seat has a 53% Republican lean when compared to 2022 election results. CN Analysis rates the race a toss-up. 

Stroebel was first elected to the state Senate in a 2015 special election after serving four years in the Assembly. In his last two elections, he faced no opposition in either the primary or the general election. 

If elected, it would be Habush Sinykin’s first time holding public office. She ran an unsuccessful but close campaign for the state Senate last year in a 2023 special election against Sen. Dan Knodl. With the new maps, Knodl decided to run for the Assembly this year to avoid running against Stroebel, who currently represents Senate District 20 under the old maps. 

It is already one of the most expensive legislative races in state history with close to $2 million in spending as of October. 

Democrats in the race have sought to highlight reproductive health — and Stroebel’s record on the issue. 

“Couples across Wisconsin are worried whether they will have the availability of IVF in the future. Doctors are worried about whether they could provide life-saving care to patients under Republican abortion bans… Students considering Health Care careers worry about the possibility of not being able to safely practice without threat of prosecution and women worry about whether or not they will be able to make decisions about their own bodies,” Habush Sinkykin said at a recent roundtable event. “I am running to help alleviate these worries and to  secure reproductive freedoms across the state.” 

Habush Sinykin has been critical of Stroebel’s past record on abortion and other reproductive health issues, pointing to his cosponsorship of a failed proposed amendment in 2019 that would have included fetal personhood in the state constitution. 

The amendment would give embryos the same rights as pregnant women, she said. “This is important because, as we heard and saw in Alabama, this would deprive women and families of opportunities for IVF here in Wisconsin,” Habush Sinykin said. 

Stroebel was also the only senator to vote against a bill that would have expanded postpartum Medicaid coverage. He, along with other Republicans senators, also rejected Democrats’ attempts to bring a bill to the floor that would have implemented protections for contraception and fertility treatments. 

Stroebel’s campaign recently sent a cease and desist order to Habush Sinykin’s campaign because of an ad, which accused the lawmakers of voting to end IVF.

“I have never voted to restrict access to IVF, and I never will. Any assertion otherwise is a lie,” Stroebel said in a statement. 

Habush Sinykin’s campaign has stood by the statement. 

Stroebel, meanwhile, is seeking to place his work in the Senate at the centerpiece of his campaign. He has served on the powerful Joint Finance Committee since 2019, and has recently helped advocate for the passage of a massive expansion of Wisconsin’s school choice program, a new literacy law that changes how reading is taught in the state and repealing the personal property tax, which was included in Act 12.

Stroebel said during an interview on the Political Power Hour on 620 WTMJ that inflation is the issue that he is discussing the most with voters at their doors. He said that he has knocked over 25,000 doors this election year.

“The cost of living is really crushing people. I mean, we’re talking about people on fixed incomes, we’re talking about retired people, we’re talking about young families,” Stroebel said. “We, as government, can do a lot more to help that situation out.” 

Stroebel said that the state’s budget surplus should be given back to taxpayers. The most recent report from the Department of Administration found that the state ended its 2024 fiscal year with a $4.6 billion state budget surplus — outpacing previous projections. He noted that the Legislature sent Gov. Tony Evers several tax cut proposals — many of which were vetoed. 

Stroebel said he supports a “middle class tax cut” — meaning one that wouldn’t touch the state’s highest tax bracket and would also focus on taxes on retirement income.

Habush Sinykin said in an interview with WisEye that the state’s budget surplus needs to be used to invest in Wisconsin’s K-12 schools, including increases to per-pupil and special education funding, and the university system as well as workforce development. She has said that tax cuts should be targeted towards working families and retirees.

Senate District 14

Republican incumbent Joan Ballweg and Democrat Sarah Keyeski, a mental health provider, are running against each other in the race for Senate District 14. The district sits north of Madison and covers parts of Dane, Columbia, Sauk and Richland counties, including the cities of Deforest, Reedsburg, Baraboo, Lodi, Columbus, Portage, Richland Center and Wisconsin Dells.

An analysis by Marquette Law School showed that the seat is a 53.3% Democratic lean. CN Analysis rates the district as ‘Tilt .’

Ballweg has served in the Assembly from 2004 to 2018 and was elected to the Senate in 2020. During her time in the Legislature, she has served in leadership positions, including currently as majority caucus vice-chair and is also a member of the Joint Finance Committee. She also previously served as the mayor of Markesan. 

Under the new maps, Markesan was drawn into the new 13th Senate District, which is represented by Sen. John Jagler (R-Watertown). Ballweg has said she now lives in Pardeeville. 

Keyeski is a mental health provider from Lodi, and a political newcomer.

Reproductive health care is again one of the issues at the center of the race. At a candidate forum hosted by Lodi Optimists Club last week, both candidates were asked whether they would vote to “protect women’s reproductive health” by putting legal abortion into law.

Keyeski, who supports codifying Roe v. Wade protections into law, said people have the right to make choices over their own bodies. Ballweg, meanwhile, sought to focus on other parts of reproductive health care, rather than abortion.

“Before you get to the abortion, first of all, I totally agree that women should be participating or using whatever type of contraception processes that they are comfortable with… in consultation with their doctors, of course,” Ballweg said. 

Many Republican candidates at the state and  federal levels have stepped back from restrictive abortion positions this election cycle. A recent poll found that most Wisconsinites oppose criminalizing abortion. 

Ballweg has previously talked about her opposition to abortion.

According to the Ripon Commonwealth Press, Ballweg explained that she was anti-abortion at a listening session in 2022 and she didn’t think that the 1849 law, which stopped abortion care in Wisconsin for over a year, should be changed to include exceptions for rape and incest. 

“I believe that life begins at conception. … Even if it is started in a very terrible way, that’s still life,” Ballweg said. “… If a woman is raped and it results in a pregnancy, that person who raped her was terrible, but she wasn’t.”

“I believe there are options. … She has the choice to love that child and keep that child with her, or she can leave that baby at the hospital, walk out the door and that baby will be taken care of.”

In an interview with WisEye, Ballweg said the issue isn’t currently the responsibility of the Legislature. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has accepted two cases filed by Attorney General Josh Kaul and Planned Parenthood that will determine if Wisconsinites have a right to abortion care. 

“I expect that we’ll be getting an answer from them in the not too distant future, so it’s out of the Legislature’s hands at this point,” Ballweg said. When asked again about whether she has a position on whether abortion should be limited after a certain number of weeks, Ballweg noted that she supported a 20-week limit a couple of years ago.

Ballweg has said one of her top priorities if reelected would be to help pass a bill to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage to a year. Wisconsin is one of two states that hasn’t accepted it. She was the lead Senate author on a bill that would have done this last year, but it never received a vote in the Assembly. 

“It’s important that we have mom there for our youngest Wisconsinites, so that mom and baby can be healthy together,” Ballweg said in an interview with WisconsinEye. 

Keyeski, meanwhile, has said she supports full Medicaid expansion. Wisconsin is one of 10 states that haven’t accepted the federal Medicaid expansion. Medicaid eligibility, under the expansion, would be extended to adults under age 65 with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level.

“Approximately 90,000 people, if we expanded Medicaid, would have better access to care and that’s really important. One of the things that’s also really important about expanding this is that our rural communities really depend on our small clinics, our small hospitals, really depend on Medicaid money,” Keyeski said at the forum. “Many of our rural communities have people that are on Medicaid and so that is what keeps those smaller hospitals and clinics viable. We’ve seen some having to close down now in the Eau Claire area Chippewa Falls area, and that is a travesty and that could have been somewhat helped by having this Medicaid expansion.”

Education funding has also represented a key issue in the race. The focus comes as more than 100 school districts across the state will go to voters to ask for additional funding in November.

Keyeski has said that she wants additional state funding to go towards public schools across Wisconsin, including by increasing special education funding. 

“We need to change the school funding formula, so that we have more money coming toward our schools,” Keyeski said at the forum, noting that the state has a significant budget surplus.

Keyeski has also said she doesn’t believe that private schools should receive public funding.

Ballweg also said she supports increasing special education funding. 

“We’re at about 33% of coverage right now. School districts can have a problem if they have one or two really difficult cases, and we do some things for those high cost special needs students also, but in general, the No. 1 stressor on our school districts is filling the need for special needs kids, so yes, keep making sure that we increase that,” Ballweg said during the WisEye interview. 

Senate District 30

Republican Jim Rafter and Democrat Jamie Wall are running against each other in the race for the newly created 30th Senate District, which covers Green Bay, Ashwaubenon, De Pere, Allouez, Bellevue. 

The district has a 52.6% Democratic lean, according to the Marquette Law School analysis. CN Analysis rates the race as “Lean D.”

Wall is a business consultant from Green Bay. He helped create New North, an economic development organization that seeks to promote business growth in Brown County and northeast Wisconsin. He ran for public office once before in 2012 for Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District seat, losing to former U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble 55% to 44%. 

Wall said Wisconsin’s new maps are a major reason he felt he could step into the race this year. The new maps placed three lawmakers in the 30th Senate District together. Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Green Bay), who is the current incumbent, decided to move to another district because of the new maps under, while the other lawmakers are leaving the Senate.

“I wouldn’t have bothered under the old system, since that would have been a fool’s errand,” Wall said in an interview. “The Green Bay Metro here was kind of the poster child for the old gerrymander.”

Wall said he hasn’t been happy with the direction of the Legislature for the last 15 years. 

“They made it so it was illegal for them not to be in power and they got to be their bad selves. They didn’t have to think about the voter in the middle… They could just go straight down the far right side of the highway and only worry about their primary voters… I don’t think it was good for the state,” Wall said. 

Wall said the costs of housing, health care and child care are three of the issues that he would want to work to help address. 

“We need to take a hard look at barriers to building more houses and not just houses, but apartments, condos, duplexes, to increase the housing supply,” Wall said. He said more could also be done with programs that the Wisconsin Economic Development Association (WEDA) has to help first-time home buyers afford down payments and their first mortgage. 

When it comes to health care, Wall said he supports Medicaid expansion and would also want to have conversations about ways of streamlining and making care more efficient, though he said that doesn’t mean depriving people of care.

Rafter said in a WisEye interview that he is running for the Senate so that he can help bring people together to work towards finding solutions to issues facing Wisconsinites. He said that his experience as village president would help him do this. 

His campaign did not respond to an interview request from the Examiner. 

Rafter said his top priority in the Legislature would be to work on bills that would help with the cost of living including  the cost of housing, food, clothing, child care. One potential bill to do this would be a tax cut bill. He said that most, if not all, of the budget surplus needs to go back to taxpayers.

“The state of Wisconsin has overcharged or overtaxed its citizens,” Rafter said. “We’ve got to figure out how not to do that.” 

Wall has said that when it comes to the budget surplus he would also support some tax relief. 

“The state’s running record surpluses and we should give some of that money back to the people who need it to help them at a time where many people rightly feel a little bit pinched,” Wall said. He said he liked  Evers’ middle class tax cut proposal for the 2023 budget, which was rejected by Republican lawmakers.

Rafter said that there need to be conversations about increasing funding to schools, and he noted that Green Bay is one of the schools going to referendum. 

Senate District 18

Democrat Kris Alfheim and Republican Anthony Phillips are running against each other in the race for the 18th Senate District in the Fox Valley, including Appleton, Menasha, Neenah and Oshkosh. 

The open district has a 55.5% Democratic lean, according to the Marquette Law School analysis. The current 18th Senate District incumbent Sen. Dan Feyen (R-Fond du Lac) was drawn into the 20th Senate District under the new maps. 

Alfheim has served on the Appleton Common Council since 2020. She previously ran a campaign for the state Senate in 2022, losing to Sen. Rachael Cabral Guevara (R-Appleton) 54% to 45.9%.  

Alfheim has said that she is running for the Senate on the “simple idea” that “people in Wisconsin like me are tired of the bickering, of the gridlock, of the dysfunction and are ready to actually get things done.”

Alfheim has said that, if elected, she will be a “pragmatic” legislator . One of her goals  is  using the state’s budget surplus to invest in schools and municipalities. 

The best way the state can help lower taxes is to invest in local needs, Alfheim said during an interview with WisEye. “When you hold back revenue from the state, to our school systems, to our municipalities, that forces the school systems and the municipalities to then raise taxes. The best way to control those rising costs are to actually fund the systems that we account for on a regular basis.”

Phillips, a cancer physician in the Fox Valley, is a political newcomer. He has said that he wants to help keep the district in Republican hands and has described himself as a “right-center” candidate. His priorities for office include keeping law enforcement funded, income and property taxes low, bolstering parental oversight of education and ensuring families have access to health care.

Phillips has made transgender issues a focal point of his campaign. In his campaign announcement, he highlighted Evers’ veto of a bill that would have barred transgender girls from participating on girls athletic teams. The issue also came up in a primary debate where Phillips talked about Alfheim. 

[Alfheim has] “got to normalize this crazy notion of biological males playing girls’ sports,” Phillips said during the debate. 

Alfheim is a member of the LGTBQ+ community, and a spotlight candidate for the LGTBQ+ Victory Fund, which is a political action committee dedicated to growing the number of out LGBTQ+ public officials in the U.S.

Democrats have also highlighted abortion and reproductive health issues in the race. Alfheim has said that she wants to work towards restoring women’s access to reproductive health care. Phillips, meanwhile, lists “advocating for a culture of Life to protect the lives of the unborn” as one of the issues that matter to him, and has previously said he would support a referendum on abortion restrictions, and believes people would favor some level of restriction on abortion access.

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Wausau Mayor Doug Diny posted a photo of himself removing the drop box to social media. (Doug Diny)

A group of Wausau voters have filed a request with the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the mayor of Wausau over his removal of an absentee ballot drop box from outside of city hall. 

Mayor Doug Diny removed the box in late September and posted a photo to social media of his action without consulting the local election clerk, who has authority under state law to administer the state’s elections. The state Supreme Court in July allowed the use of absentee ballot drop boxes but gave local clerks the discretion to decide if they will be used. 

More than 60 municipalities have opted not to use the boxes, which were in place in rural and urban parts of the state for years. After the 2020 election, however, Republicans began criticizing their use, alleging the lack of security opens the voting system up to fraud and “ballot harvesting.” 

Diny’s actions have drawn criticisms from voting rights advocates across the state worried about efforts to prevent people from having access to vote. 

The box has since been returned, but an investigation has been opened into Diny’s actions. WISN reporter Matt Smith reported Wednesday that the state Department of Justice has taken over an investigation originally launched by Marathon County. 

Voting rights advocates want federal authorities to get involved as well. 

“For years, voters across Wisconsin safely and securely cast their ballots via drop boxes across the state,” the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign said in a news release Wednesday. “No matter where we work or what part of the state we call home, working Wisconsinites should be able to vote easily and safely. Making it harder to vote is out of touch with Wisconsin values.”

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