UPDATE: This article has been updated with responses from the Laramie County Clerks Office.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Republican Party and several party members filed a lawsuit on Aug. 7 against Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee, challenging the certification and use of electronic voting machines for the upcoming primary election. The suit alleges that Lee’s office failed to comply with Wyoming Statute 22-11-104, which mandates specific testing procedures for voting machines.
The plaintiffs, including Representatives Ben Hornok and Clarence Styvar, Laramie County Republican Party Chairman Taft Love, Republican Party State Committeeman Dallas Tyrrell and Laramie County Board of Commissioners candidate Kathy Scigliano, claim that the test conducted on Aug. 5 did not meet legal requirements. The test allegedly assigned the same number of votes to each candidate, contrary to the statute, which requires a different number of votes for each candidate.
The Laramie County Clerk’s office acknowledges receipt of a complaint filed by the Wyoming Republican Party and candidates Ben Hornok, Clarence Styvar, Taft Love, Dallas Tyrrell, and Kathy Scigliano concerning the methodology of testing of two tabulators used to count absentee ballots according to a statement made by Lee on the Laramie County Government Facebook page.
“No errors occurred during the certified test conducted, and none of the complaints allege an error has occurred. The County maintains full confidence in the accuracy and operation of all our voting equipment and will respond fully to all complaints and litigation filed,” Lee states.
Observers from the GOP, including Love and Tyrrell, attended the Aug. 5 test at the Laramie County Courthouse. They were required to surrender their personal cellphones before entering the testing area. According to the lawsuit, despite raising concerns with Lee about the testing process, Lee did not correct the issues according to the filed complaint.
The lawsuit also questions the use of a random number generator to produce the test ballots, arguing that it would not generate identical vote counts for each candidate. The plaintiffs requested to see the computer system responsible for creating the test deck, but Lee allegedly refused.
The suit also alleges that other voting machines, specifically the Model DS200 Poll Place Scanners and Tabulators, were improperly tested on July 19 and were certified despite the issues. The complaint does not detail any observations of the July 19 testing.
The Wyoming GOP is seeking an order to prevent the use of the machines in the Aug. 20 primary election and to require alternative counting methods.
“The complaint seeks to disrupt our current primary election and force my office to provide alternative means for counting ballots expected to be cast by more than 5700 absentee voters in Laramie County,” Lee states. The complaint does not distinguish the machines as specific to absentee voters.
“Because Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-11-104 requires that each voting machine which is to be used in any Wyoming election be properly tested no later than two weeks prior to the election in which it is to be used, and because the date of the primary election is less than two weeks away, the Tabulating Machines cannot be properly tested for use in the Election,” the complaint states.
Cap City News reached out to the Laramie County Clerk’s office. Though no direct response to questions have been received, a statement was made on the Laramie County Government Facebook page in regards to complaint.
“We are in close communication with the Secretary of State’s certified election equipment vendor to address the GOP’s concerns about testing methodology,” Lee states.
