Saying the trust of Republican voters in Wyoming election systems hinge on the outcome of the case, Republican Party leaders at the national level are asking a federal judge to let them help defend the state’s new election proof-of-citizenship law.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a motion Thursday to intervene in the ongoing lawsuit the Equality State Policy Center is waging against Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Wyoming’s new law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The nonprofit group sued May 9 on claims that the new law makes voting cumbersome, is unconstitutional and disadvantages minorities, women, transgender people and others.
The group is asking the federal court of Wyoming to block a 2025 law titled House Bill 156 from going into law, though it’s scheduled to take effect July 1.
The new law would require people to provide proof of citizenship and 30 days’ Wyoming residency to register to vote in the state. It would disallow using any documentation showing the person is not U.S. citizen to register to vote.
The voter-rights group opposes letting the RNC into the case, court filings say.
Right Where We Belong, Say Repubs
The argument in support of the Republican National Committee’s motion, compiled by Dale Schowengerdt of Montana-based Landmark Law PLLC, says letting the Equality State Policy Center win would deter people from the polls by jeopardizing trust in elections, not the other way around.
The party has the right to intervene because of its interest in getting Republicans to vote and instilling in them a trust in elections systems, the filing says, citing other cases where the RNC has been allowed to intervene in voting integrity law cases.
“Though (the Equality State Policy Center) argues there are no election integrity problems ‘involving noncitizens or otherwise’ in Wyoming … this Court ‘cannot assume’ that Plaintiff ‘will ultimately prevail on the merits,” the RNC’s argument says.
If the court doesn’t determine the RNC has a right to intervene, it should still let the party into the case on its own discretion under “permissive” intervention rules, Schowengerdt wrote.
Equality State Policy Center attorney Darold Killmer, who filed the group’s complaint, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gray told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday that his office welcomes the RNC motion to help defend “Wyoming’s commonsense, conservative election integrity law requiring proof of citizenship for registering to vote.”
“We need all hands on deck to combat radical left-wing DNC attorney Marc Elias’ attacks on any and all conservative election integrity reforms,” including this one, said Gray.
Elias’ firm is listed as the plaintiff’s co-counsel on the original complaint.
As Pled
The Equality State Policy Center’s complaint says the following groups will face a higher risk of disenfranchisement under the law:
• Women whose new married or divorced names might not reflect their identifying documents.
• Transgender people in a similar plight from changing their names.
• Hispanic people who are eligible to vote but may struggle with documentation.
• People who lack stable housing.
• People who were adopted or taken into foster care.
• People too disabled to drive and have a driver’s license.
• Young voters.
• People in rural areas where the driver services offices keep sporadic and sparse hours of operation.
Is It Constitutional?
The complaint, filed via the group’s attorney Darold W. Killmer of Denver-based Killmer Lane LLP, asks the federal court to deem the new law unconstitutional and block Secretary of State Gray and the state’s county clerks from enforcing it.
The complaint says the law places an undue burden on the right to vote, and is unconstitutionally vague.
"Wyoming has a proud tradition of fair and secure elections, and there is no evidence of noncitizen voting or widespread fraud to justify the harsh new restrictions in HB 156," ESPC Executive Director Jenny DeSarro said in a statement, to which the lawsuit complaint was attached.
The lawsuit comes after Gov. Mark Gordon allowed the bill to become law without his signature earlier this year.
Gordon, a Republican, cited legal concerns for not signing it and worried the law “adheres to neither the original construction of our Constitution nor federal law.”
Gordon said Wyoming has an "excellent track record with election integrity and security."
Under existing Wyoming law, voters already must provide proof of identity and attest under penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens living in Wyoming.
HB 156 goes further by requiring specific documentation to prove citizenship and residency status, and requiring voters to attest that they have lived in Wyoming for at least 30 days before casting a ballot.
Voter fraud in Wyoming is rare, and the case of a noncitizen voting that the bill’s proponents cited during its advancement wouldn’t have been captured by it anyway since the culprit had fraudulently obtained a driver’s license, the complaint says.
It also laments what it calls Wyoming’s low voter turnout, with 44% of eligible Wyomingites voting in the 2022 general election.
“The Legislature has voted to make it harder (to vote) with HB 156, based on scaremongering about noncitizen participation,” says the complaint. “Wyoming’s elections will become even less reflective of the actual will of its residents than they currently are.”
And Oh, The Lawyers
Gray in a Thursday statement touted the appointment of “top election attorneys” Mark Meuser and Michael Columbo of the Dhillon Law Group, and Scott Gessler, as lead counsel to defend Wyoming’s law.
Founded by President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice attorney Harmeet Dhillon, “The Dhillon Law Group and Scott Gessler bring a wealth of knowledge and experience regarding election law and defense of truth,” wrote Gray. “I am thankful for their expertise as we prepare a vigorous defense to this lawsuit.”
On the plaintiffs’ side, Killmer is joined by the Elias Law Group, another leading voter-access firm that announced six new actions against election integrity or restriction measures in May alone.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
