Column by Wyoming Republican Party
On May 8th, the Wyoming GOP opened its 2020 State Convention with two full days of Credentials and Nominating/Elections Committee work and Convention business via videoconferencing.
In light of COVID 19-related restrictions on gatherings over 10 people, the State Central Committee approved a plan to meet virtually for part of the Convention business, us-ing a video and audio conferencing platform widely and successfully used by many businesses and organizations.
On Saturday, Convention members voted to approve the agenda and floor rules, which included the use of a polling/balloting platform also widely used by businesses and organi-zations.
This balloting program has also been used by other States in their virtual Regional and State GOP conventions over last few weeks and was recommended. This was one of the largest Republican virtual conventions held in the U.S. to date.
After a full day of work on party elections, questions were raised late Saturday evening as to whether technical or process difficulties occurred in the balloting. The Party is assessing the concerns raised. The WYGOP and the RNC are committed to election integrity. The Wyoming GOP staff will be evaluating the situation in the coming days. Additional information will be forthcoming.
Wyoming GOP Chairman Frank Eathorne stated:
Video conferencing and digital balloting are not the ideal platforms for conventions as large as ours was. Our convention team did an excellent job navigating trying conditions. The hours and days ahead will be prioritized with assessing how the technology worked in a real-world application.
The Wyoming GOP took the advice of the Republican National Committee and hired one of its 3 most-highly recommended parliamentarians to guide the party through its first – and hopefully last – virtual state convention. As to the May 9th elec-tion results, certified parliamentarian Al Gage advised the party as follows:
The body voted to adjourn before a revote was ordered and in any case, revoting by the same method was out of or-der. Since the election was not overturned, it must stand as the action of the body unless or until subsequent action is taken.
The Parliamentarian further advises that neither the Executive Committee nor the State Central Committee have discretion or authority at this time to direct any action contrary to the vote taken on May 9th.
As a matter of parliamentary procedure, only the State Convention can take any action as to its elections. When the State Convention recon-venes on June 25th, the body may debate and decide what direction they wish to take, if any, as to the elections on May 9th.
Unless or until the State Convention chooses to do something different, the election results stand.
Further, the Wyoming GOP Bylaws require that the party certify election results to the Secretary of State immediately.
In an effort to ensure the Wyoming GOP has complied with the ByLaws, the election results have been supplied to the Secretary of State. The election results are as follows:
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS
Marti Halverson 116
Jack Mueller 86
Karl Allred 85
AT-LARGE DELEGATES
County-selected Delegates
Robert J. DiLorenzo
Paul Metevier
Bill Novotny
Jack Mueller
Taylor Allred
Joe McGinley
Jeb Hansen
Robert Ferguson
Tim Bendel
Jim Robinson
Wendy Salzman
Allen Slagle
Top vote getters
Nathan Winters 142
Harriet Hageman 139
Sam Galeotos 134
Curt Meier 116
Barbara Cubin 115
Darin Smith 94
Bo Biteman 90
Bob Ide 90
Cheri Steinmetz 90
Cathy Ide 88
Karl Allred 86
David Pope 81
David Holland 81
Bryan Miller 80
ALTERNATES
County-selected Alternates
Rafael Delagadillo
Jeffery Raney
Camilla Hicks
Karl Falken
Heather Hayes
Ben Hornok
Jimmy Dee Lees
John Kolb
Alex Muromcew
Next highest vote getters
JoAnn True 79
Shane True 78
Cynthia Cloud 61
Clara Powers 54
John Kaiser 53
Kerry Powers 51
Hans Hunt 49
Jimmy Dee Lees 49
Dan Laursen 46
Robert Byrd 46
Charles Cloud 45
Jeff Raney 45
Chris Smith 43
Zach Padilla 42
Bob Wharf 36
Chris Wooley 36
Rebecca Bextel 34
NATIONAL COMMITTEEMAN
Corey Steinmetz 140
Sam Galeotos 114
Ben Barto 1
NATIONAL COMMITTEEWOMAN
Harriet Hageman 152
Barbara Cubin 105