On Thursday, the Joint Corporations Committee filed seven House Bills to strengthen Wyoming’s election infrastructure.
On the same day, Secretary of State Chuck Gray released a list of election integrity priorities that solidly supported the committee’s work.
First on the list, Gray endorsed HB 48 Pen and paper ballots. This bill is needed to bring election procedures into conformity with Wyoming’s Constitution and with the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Almost all counties already set pen and paper ballots as the default method of voting. When voters arrive at the polling place, they are handed a paper ballot and directed to a booth where they can privately mark the proper ovals.
Voters who experience difficulty with this procedure are given the option to use an electronic ballot marking device (BMD) instead. This is generally a computer with a touchscreen. It is useful for voters with failing eyes and faltering hands - allowing them more easily to cast their votes.
But in at least one county, this procedure is reversed. Everyone who enters the polling place is directed to a BMD. Only those who specifically ask for a paper ballot are given one.
This difference from county to county runs contrary to the Constitution, written by the people of Wyoming, which requires that elections be “open, free and equal” (Art. 1, Sec. 27). Moreover, if the BMD creates a bar code that is read in place of the candidates’ names, it contravenes President Trump’s executive order on election integrity.
HB 48 fixes both problems.
Second on Gray’s list is to increase “Wyoming’s chain-of-custody procedures by banning ballot drop boxes and ballot harvesting.” These priorities are addressed by HB 49 Ballot drop boxes-prohibition and HB 50 Ballot harvesting-prohibition.
Wyoming election code does not authorize counties to collect ballots via drop boxes. But some counties have used them in the past. Others still use them on their own authority. HB 49 is necessary to enforce Wyoming’s constitutional duty to provide elections that are “open, free, and equal.”
Gray’s third priority is to strengthen “Wyoming’s voter ID law.” SF 29 Elections-acceptable identification revisions does this work. It pares down the list of acceptable voter identifications from ten to seven, removing those without a photograph or that are not sufficiently regulated.
Fourth, the Secretary of State’s office is prioritizing two bills that expand the tools available to itself, the county clerks, citizens, and candidates when auditing or recounting election results.
When Weston County voters saw obvious wackiness in the 2024 election results, they wanted to get to the bottom of it. But, since the problems were caused by mistakenly programmed counting machines, a recount by those same faulty machines could not detect the problem.
The candidate - none other than Speaker of the House Chip Neiman - was very nearly blocked from having more than 1,100 legitimate votes counted. HB 51 Random hand count audits of election results and HB 52 Elections-hand counting for recounts correct this outrageous injustice.
HB 52 gives every candidate standing before the county clerk to request a hand recount of his or her election. It also provides the clerk and the secretary of state with the ability to initiate recounts on their own authority.
HB 51 requires that a similar procedure be performed randomly in every county. This provision will do a far better job of reassuring voters that the counts are accurate than a thousand official pronouncements about “air gaps,” “certified software,” and “trusted builds.”
Finally, the Secretary of State promises to offer a constitutional amendment banning citizens of other countries from voting and holding office in Wyoming. I look forward to seeing this bill soon.
Ronald Reagan famously invoked a card player’s proverb: “Trust everyone, but cut the cards.” People of goodwill live by this motto. When the dealer slides the deck to his right and offers him the cut, it does not insult him to cut the deck. It is a custom that keeps the game friendly and fair.
The same goes for elections. Wyoming citizens who are concerned about election integrity are not accusing anyone of cheating. They simply want public officials to provide a meaningful opportunity to cut the cards.
The Joint Corporations Committee has heard the people and has offered several great bills that keep the game friendly. Kudos to them for working with Secretary Gray.
Jonathan Lange is a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod pastor in Evanston and Kemmerer and serves the Wyoming Pastors Network. Follow his blog at https://jonathanlange.substack.com/. Email: JLange64@protonmail.com
