WYOMING — Newly passed laws have changed voting regulations in the state, although the outcome of the proposed voter residency requirement is still in the hands of Wyoming residents.
During the March, 2023 General Legislation Session, two bills were passed; one reduced the number of days a resident can vote before the election, and the other requires Wyoming residents to affiliate with their political party before candidates are announced.
Additionally, the Wyoming Secretary of State’s proposed new residency requirement rule could require voters to produce identification in addition to a driver’s license in order to prove residency when registering to vote.
Teton County Clerk Maureen Murphy told Buckrail that voters will need a lot of educating about the requirements before the primary on Aug. 20. She is preparing to start an education campaign in the next couple of months. Murphy explained what the recently passed voting bills mean for Teton County.
“As far as the Senate File and the House File that passed in the last session, those are now laws, so we have to abide by them,” Murphy said.
Senate File 153 reduced the number of early voting days from 45 to 28. Murphy explained that this means the early voting room will now open 28 days before the election versus 45 days, and absentee ballots are required to be mailed out 28 days prior. The U.S. Postal Service also announced it is relocating Wyoming’s last remaining mail processing facility from Cheyenne to Denver, potentially causing delays throughout the state for county clerks to receive absentee ballots.
“I hope if people want absentee ballots for the primary or general election, that they start requesting them now,” Murphy shared.
House Bill 103 changed Wyoming’s semi-open primary to a closed primary by requiring voters to decide which party they will vote for 96 days before the election. Voters are no longer able to change their party at any point, which is referred to as crossover voting. According to Murphy, Teton County had a higher crossover vote compared to other Wyoming counties during the last election.
Wyoming FREE, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to fair, reliable and ethical elections, reported that these newly enacted voting restrictions could impact the polls.
“Our County Clerks have testified over and over that people change parties at the polls to vote for friends or neighbors, someone they know and trust,” Wyoming FREE Executive Director Rebekah Fitzgerald said via press release. “And when I talk to my friends and neighbors, most say they just want to vote for whoever they want.”
Wyoming FREE’s Voter Restrictions Issue Brief states that the Cowboy State was one of 11 states to further restrict voting access, sinking its rating to the bottom five in the nation on the Cost of Voting Index. The Cost of Voting Index (COVI) examines a comprehensive list of factors impacting voters, including registration deadlines, registration restrictions, registration drive restrictions, pre-registration laws, automatic voter registration, voting inconvenience, voter identification laws, poll hours, early voting days and absentee voting. According to Wyoming FREE’s brief, the Heritage Foundation found zero instances of voter fraud in Wyoming in the past decade.
Murphy also has concerns with potential voter restrictions in Teton County, and will be testifying in opposition to the proposed residency vote rule at the public hearing in Cheyenne this Friday, Jan. 25.
“The residency requirement needs to be studied more, I just worry that it’s going to hinder people from being able to vote,” Murphy said. “Part of my job as County Clerk is to make sure that anyone who is a qualified elector can vote in our county.”
Murphy explained to Buckrail that the Municipal Clerks Association worked with Secretary of State Chuck Gray on the proposed rule, but Teton County has serious reservations about what was released. Murphy goes on to explain that certain renters are not necessarily listed on a utility bill, so they would not have proof of residency in spite of living in Teton County.
“The majority of Teton County residents have P.O. Boxes, and they don’t have street addresses on their licenses,” Murphy said. “So, by just showing a Wyoming license, people won’t be able to vote, they would have to prove a secondary way to vote.”
According to Wyoming law, anyone who doesn’t vote in a general election is purged from the system, due to voter rolls being updated every two years.
“We purged almost 6,000 people in the 2022 election,” Murphy said. “We had 16,000 registered voters at the beginning of the cycle and only 10,000 voted. So, all those people are going to have to come back to register to vote.”
Secretary of State Chuck Gray will discuss the implementation of the residency requirement rule at the hearing this Friday, and the public is welcome to share comments and concerns.
“Strengthening our residency requirements has been a key priority of our administration,” Secretary of State Chuck Gray said via press release. “The proposed revisions are key to fulfilling our obligation of ensuring voters in Wyoming are bona fide residents of Wyoming, and the Wyoming county clerks have also testified before the Legislature on the need to add clarity to Wyoming’s voter registration procedures as they relate to proof of residency.”
Wyoming FREE said via press release that a residency requirement rule could impact voters that are unaware of the necessary documentation needed on election day, causing them to have to file a provisional ballot.
“The residency requirement sounds simple, and we 100% agree we only want Wyoming residents voting in elections, but remembering to grab a utility bill or some other proof of residency for voters who want to pop down to their polling place on their lunch break seems overly burdensome for something that has not proven to be a problem,” Fitzgerald said via press release.
The public comment period for the proposed residency rule is open until Jan. 26. Comments can be submitted through the rules system or by emailing comments directly to Joe.Rubino1@wyo.gov. Members of the public can also attend the public hearing virtually by registering via Zoom.
