Weston County Commissioners decided they need a dedicated representative and senator to represent Weston County. And, instead of following the reapportionment procedure mandated by the Wyoming Constitution and state law, they have declared themselves above the law.
They created their own legislators. No election. No votes by the Legislature. No bill signed by the governor. They just created the seats out of thin air.
Since there was no election to fill the seats, they called the seats they hatched vacant. Then, they asked the Weston County Republican Party to nominate 3 candidates for each spot. Apparently, there are no democrats or independents in Weston County who deserve to vote on the issue.
According to the Weston County Commissioners, to be heard, you must be a member of the Republican Central Committee. The Central Committee submitted names to the commissioners, and the commissioners filled the vacancies in the offices they spawned.
The original Wyoming Constitution has a provision that says each county should have one senator and one representative. Of course, when that constitutional provision was written in the late 1890s, Wyoming was a vastly different state than it is now. That provision was deemed unconstitutional a generation ago.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 1991 court case held the provision of the Wyoming Constitution unconstitutional. The court said the Wyoming Constitutional provision does not meet the equal protection requirements of the United States Constitution.
The requirements of the United States Constitution are the supreme law of the land. Both the Wyoming Act of Admission and the Wyoming Constitution acknowledge the United States Constitution as such.
The decision, known as the Gorin decision, was not written by some liberal activist judge. The decision was written by 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Wade Brorby.
Judge Brorby, who is retired and lives in Arizona, is a classic grassroots legal scholar. He was born and raised in---you guessed it---Newcastle. After distinguished service in the Navy, he graduated from law school and served as the County and Prosecuting Attorney for Campbell County for many years.
His excellent legal skills and sound legal reasoning caused his legal peers to encourage him to fill a vacant seat in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals----a Court only one level below the United States Supreme Court.
In the Gorin decision, Judge Brorby wrote “The conception of political equality from the Declaration of Independence to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, to the 15th, 17th and 19th Amendments can only mean one thing----one person, one vote.”
He continued, “The right to vote is a fundamental individual right entitled to judicial protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.”
“No right is more precious in a free country than having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as a good citizen, we must live. Other rights even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined.”
The problem with giving each county one senator and one representative is, voters in one county have more power than voters in other counties. In 2020, the Weston County population was 6,838. The Laramie County population was 100,512. By demanding one representative and senator per county, Weston County is demanding 15 times the voting power for each of its citizens than they want to afford to the citizens of Laramie County.
The Gorin opinion makes it very clear any debasement or dilution of the weight of a citizen’s vote is comparable to prohibiting the free exercise of the right to vote. In other words, giving citizens of one county more voting power than citizens of other counties violates the United States Constitution.
The Weston County Commissioners, by their cavalier disregard of the sanctity of the right to vote, attack the very foundations of our democracy.
Judge Brorby was not finished with his opinion. After citing the Wyoming Constitution, the opinion held, “Each and every Wyoming citizen has an inalienable right to full and effective participation in the political process of this great state. Full and effective participation by all Wyoming citizens in State Government requires that each citizen have an equally effective voice in the election of Wyoming lawmakers. Our state needs and both the Wyoming Constitution and the United States Constitution demand no less.”
The willingness of political types to advance their power at the expense of other citizens is concerning. The silence of journalists, elected officials and members of the bar, who are sworn to support, obey and defend the Constitution is mortifying.
The Weston County Commissioners are playing with fire when they arrogantly tinker with the rights granted by the United States Constitution.
We cannot pick and choose which constitutional provisions apply and which do not. Our constitutional rights should not be waived at a despot’s whim. We cannot sit by and watch flippant politicians tinker with our right to vote.
Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 - 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com
