Fair, Reliable, Ethical Elections in Wyoming

CASPER STAR TRIBUNE

This is an odd new administration. Both Gray and the Legislature’s right wing have been and are working to restrict voter registration. Many other red state are adopting the same strategies and laws; it’s a national right-wing trend, guided by the national Freedom Caucus outfit in D.C.

USA TODAY

Gordon’s letter argued that Gray did not have the authority to change the voter registration laws and that making the proposed changes circumvented the legislature. “I do not believe it is within the scope of authority delegated to the Secretary of State by law,” added the governor.

OILCITY NEWS

After determining that language in voter registration rules proposed by Secretary of State Chuck Gray exceeds his statutory authority, Gov. Mark Gordon has not approved the proposed rule package. The governor’s action follows the recommendation of the Wyoming Legislature’s Management Council.

WYOFILE

Gov. Mark Gordon rejected rules proposed by Secretary of State Chuck Gray on the basis that the regulations exceed the scope of the secretary’s legal authority. Wyoming residents are currently required to provide proof of identity when registering to vote. Gray’s rules proposed adding proof of residency to the process. That’s not Gray’s job to decide, Gordon concluded.

WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE

The governor said he agreed with Gray that only Wyoming residents should participate in the state’s elections. However, Gordon noted that current data gives no indication that the state’s election system is under significant threat of voter fraud, or is without the ability to investigate and verify voter qualifications.

GILLETTE NEWS RECORD

As election season draws near, local governments have gotten pressure from some Wyoming residents to count ballots by hand instead of using machines. Campbell County Clerk Cindy Lovelace said that hand counting ballots would be “a huge undertaking,” and that aside from the fact that state law doesn’t allow for it, the manpower and expense associated with it make the process impractical.

BASIN REPUBLICAN RUSTLER via WYOMING NEWS EXCHANGE and WYOFILE

How and when Wyoming residents can vote will look different this year. Two election laws related to political party affiliation and absentee voting were added to the books in 2023, making the August primaries the first major election affected by the new regulations.

USA TODAY

Wyoming is a supermajority state, with Republicans making up 86 of the state’s 93 legislators. But uniformity doesn’t mean unity, as the widening chasm between the state’s further-right Freedom Caucus and more moderate establishment Republicans has grown in recent years and begun to mirror GOP infighting nationwide.

WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE

New challenges for voters include a requirement to register party affiliation 96 days before the primary election, as a result of the political party affiliation declaration bill passed in 2023 that bans crossover voting.

WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE

Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray was present at the December meeting, and expressed his concerns about moving mail sorting to Denver. In public statements made at the time, he raised concerns about what moving mail processing to Denver would do for ballots.

USA TODAY

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to hear a Wyoming-born First Amendment challenge to the state’s buffer zones restricting campaigning around polling sites.

AARP WYOMING

AARP Wyoming recommends Wyomingites check their voter registration status for 2024 as Wyoming Secretary of State data reveals there are more than 86,000 fewer registered voters in 2024 than in 2022.

BUFFALO BULLETIN

Wyoming voters may need to reregister to vote after a purge removed 86,000 registered voters, including 646 Johnson County voters, from the rolls. Wyoming law requires county clerks every two years to remove the names of voters who did not vote in the most recent general election.

WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE

Marissa Carpio, Policy Director for Equality State Policy Center, writes, “The very people who say they support election integrity voted against it. The same people who advocate for stricter rules for voters because they’re concerned about “what happens in other states” voted against protections here.”

WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE

Thumbs UP to members of the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Commmittee for sponsoring a House joint resolution that would have asked for an amendment to the US Constitution to identify the source of political contributions.

MY COUNTRY 95.5 FM

This year, we will choose who will be the President of the United States for the next four years and quite a few other important positions. Do you know when you need to jump into action and cast your vote? It's confusing because there are many important dates and information to remember.

WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE

Our tradition of self-reliance and independence is at risk. “Dark money” groups have been flooding our mailboxes with attack ads that fail to disclose who is funding them. Are they from out-of-state special interest groups? We don’t know, and that is a threat to our democracy and our Wyoming way of life.

WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE

Lawmakers are starting to speak out against the anonymous attacks, however. Senate President Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, and House Speaker Rep. Albert Sommers, R-Pinedale, released an op-ed last week that condemned the anonymous mailers and encouraged Wyoming voters to exercise scrutiny in political messaging.

JHNEWS&GUIDE

Wyoming FREE Board Member Paul Vogelheim writes: We aren’t preventing voter fraud; we’re keeping qualified voters from the ballot box. This is not a conservative value, and it is definitely not a Wyoming value.

COWBOY STATE DAILY

Columnist Rod Miller writes: As a champion of limited government and individual freedom, Chuck Gray is proposing a government solution to a problem that really doesn’t exist by imposing restrictions on the individual. That, saddle pals, is the epitome of hypocrisy.

COWBOY STATE DAILY

Former House Speaker Lubnau writes: The legislature is in charge of passing laws. Wyoming Statute 22-2-103 says the Secretary of State is “the chief election officer for the state and shall maintain uniformity in the application and operation of the election laws in Wyoming.”

WYOFILE

Under current regulations, residents are required to provide proof of identity when registering to vote in Wyoming. Gray is proposing that proof of residency also be required. More specifically, the proposed rules as written would require anyone registering to vote to provide proof of their residential address.

GILLETTE NEWS RECORD

Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, who co-chairs the Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee, challenged the secretary of state’s statutory authority to enact election rules to require proof of residency.

CASPER STAR TRIBUNE

Secretary of State Chuck Gray filed a notice of the rule on Dec. 7, which requires that a registered voter’s residential address match the address listed on their valid Wyoming driver’s license or state-issued ID card. At the time, Gray launched a public comment period on the new rule, which ended Friday, the same day as the hearing.

Nonpartisan organizations, their leaders, and supporters pointed out the impact proposed rules would have on Wyoming voters in the upcoming elections. They emphasized the need to protect voters’ access to the polls while maintaining the current safe, secure, and fair system Wyoming already has.

BUCKRAIL

Impassioned residents and county clerks from across the state responded to Secretary of State Chuck Gray’s proposed voter residency regulations at a public hearing in Cheyenne on Friday, Jan. 26.

WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE

What should have been a nonpartisan issue became a heated political debate in the Capitol’s auditorium on Friday, when dozens of people turned out in person and online to comment on a controversial new voter registration rule.

BUCKRAIL

Wyoming FREE, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to fair, reliable and ethical elections, reported that newly enacted voting restrictions could impact the polls. The Cowboy State was one of 11 states to further restrict voting access, sinking its rating to the bottom five in the nation on the Cost of Voting Index.

COWBOY STATE DAILY

There have been significant changes to Wyoming election law in recent years, which makes it harder for people to vote in the state. Wyoming FREE wants lawmakers and the public to consider the difference between what has been happening nationally with elections and what is actually happening in Wyoming.

WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE

Wyoming voters participating in the 2024 election can expect significant obstacles when accessing the polls, especially for the primary on Aug. 20. The state has become one of the most restrictive states in the nation for voter access.

Wyoming FREE’s Issue Brief focuses on the access Wyoming voters have to cast a vote. Wyoming now ranks among the most restrictive states in the nation for voter access — in spite of the Heritage Foundation finding zero instances of fraud in WY in a decade.

BUFFALO BULLETIN

Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray proposed a change to the state’s voter registration process that will add to county clerks’ workload and make it harder for many folks to vote, especially rural residents and our older voters.

WYOFILE

Secretary of State Chuck Gray is proposing voters provide proof of residency when registering, but county clerks say it will create lengthy Election Day delays, without addressing existing problems.

CCAW’s position is clear: only Wyoming citizens should be voting in Wyoming elections. We have no indication that there has been a problem in Wyoming with out-of-state residents misrepresenting themselves as residents for the purpose of voting in our elections.

WYOFILE

Wyoming is unique: it is the only state with a constitution that protects the right to political equality. Laws that create special classes of voters and candidates are unconstitutional…

CASPER STAR TRIBUNE

This year, our Wyoming Legislature introduced more than two dozen election-related bills, nearly 8% of the total number of bills introduced this session. Is the security of Wyoming’s election system in doubt?

CASPER STAR TRIBUNE

Wyoming voters have said they’re worried about election integrity. The Legislature has responded with a slew of new bills aimed to address those concerns, three of which passed initial legislative hurdles in 2023.

CASPER STAR TRIBUNE

A record number of voters wrote-in candidates for the secretary of state general election in 2020. To ensure that the voices of Wyoming voters are heard, we should work harder to understand why.