CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming’s chief election officer is pushing for change in the Cowboy State’s election code.
During a news conference Thursday inside the Wyoming State Capitol, Secretary of State Chuck Gray briefed the public on his priorities for bolstering election integrity during the Wyoming 68th Legislature. Gray also expressed his desire to realize a “complete, conservative legislative package” this January.
A large part of Gray’s provisions is to restore faith in local elections, which he and his colleagues said has eroded over the past several election cycles. Rep. Christopher Knapp of Gillette said he has spoken with many residents who feel their votes don’t count. The legislator said one of the focuses of the upcoming general session will be on election integrity.
“What we did was peeled back layers of government to be transparent to the people, and I think that’s what’s happened on the national level too,” Knapp said. “The people have spoken nationally, and they’ve spoken in the state. They cleaned the House, and now all eyes are on the Senate and what the governor does with legislation that comes.”
Knapp was recently named chair of the House Corporations Committee.
The following are the main provisions Gray wants to see passed in the upcoming legislative session.
Proof of U.S. citizenship
Under current Wyoming law, residents do not have to provide documents proving one’s residency or citizenship status in order to vote. Gray wants to change that.
The secretary of state said only Wyoming residents should be participating in Wyoming elections. To ensure this remains the case, he and other legislators want people to provide proof of residency and citizenship upon voter registration.
“I believe Wyoming can and should require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for every new registrant to vote in all Wyoming elections,” Gray said. “And this would make Wyoming a leader in the election integrity space.”
Proof of Wyoming residency
Piggy-backing off of the last proposal, Gray said that not only do residents have to prove they are U.S. citizens to vote, but they must also provide verification that they reside within Wyoming. Much like his previous point, Gray said Wyomingites currently don’t have to provide evidence of their in-state residency to be registered as a Wyoming voter.
“Only Wyoming citizens should be voting in Wyoming elections, period,” Gray said.
Ban drop boxes
Wyoming’s election code mandates that absentee ballots be directly mailed or delivered to county clerks, Gray noted. Thus, he said, the regulations don’t allow voters to hand off their ballots to inanimate objects, aka drop boxes.
“The strained interpretation only came about during the government’s response to COVID-19,” Gray said. “I remain convinced that the use of unstaffed and unattended ballot drop boxes is not best for our state and lacks statutory authorization. … While our administration, working with counties, has reduced the number of drop boxes in the 2024 election, I believe it is necessary to take action to completely ban them.”
True photo ID to vote
Gray said he wants to ensure that voters present acceptable IDs during elections. He harkened back to his voter identification bill during his time in the Legislature, stating that more safeguards need to be implemented to protect election integrity. One of those safeguards is to require photo identification.
Under current statute, voters may be allowed to present non-photo IDs when voting, Gray said. He said the main reason to enforce photo IDs is to prevent voter impersonation.
Ban ballot harvesting
Ballot collecting or ballot harvesting is an instance where a third-party entity or person returns an absentee ballot to a polling place or election office on behalf of the voter, according to FindLaw. In many states, this practice is allowed, but Wyoming does not contain any provisions stating ballot harvesting is acceptable or prohibited in any way. Gray said ballot harvesting has caused problems nationwide, and thus he believes the practice should be outlawed.
Ban third-party funding of election administrations
Gray said that Wyoming needs to take action to ban private funding of elections, or “Zuck Bucks,” referring to Meta and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The secretary of state said implementing this protection would prevent foreign actors from influencing U.S. elections.
Hand verification of voting machines
Wyoming currently doesn’t require a complete verification of voting machines, a fact that troubles Gray. The law allows county commissions to choose whether to tabulate votes by machine or by hand, the secretary of state said. He also noted that the law doesn’t allow for hand recounts for elections carried out by voting machines.
“No county commission has opted for hand tabulation in recent elections,” Gray said. “The people of Wyoming deserve more tools to allow for complete verification of this process. And one solution we’ve been exploring is in both the mandatory recount provisions, as well as recounts conducted at the request of candidates by hand, to ensure the power is restored to the people, regardless of their county’s decision.”
WyoFile reported in April 2023 that “most Wyoming voters remain confident in the state’s elections, according to a survey conducted by the University of Wyoming last July and August. And audits before and after both the 2020 and 2022 elections indicated 100% accuracy across the state. The voting machines first used in 2020 were more secure and sophisticated than any other voting machines used in the history of Wyoming’s elections, former Secretary of State Ed Buchanan said while in office.”
The 68th Wyoming Legislature begins at noon Tuesday, Jan. 14. To view a schedule of legislative sessions, click here.
