Wyoming

The Cost of an Absentee Ballot

vebrankovic · November 30, 2020 ·

By Timmer McCroskey

Be honest, when was the last time you went to the post office? For me, it’s been at least six months since I physically went into any post office. With the ability to buy postage labels online and drop off packages in blue boxes located throughout my town, I rarely need to go into a physical location. Next question, do you have stamps on hand? I do, but only because I try to send my Grandma a card every month. For many people, especially in rural Wyoming, the post office isn’t a frequent stop on the errand list and not everybody has a reason (or funds) to purchase stamps. However, to mail in an absentee ballot in Wyoming, you are required to place the correct amount of postage on the envelope. Wyoming is one of 33 states that does not pay for the return postage of an absentee ballot.

It’s Time for the Wild West to Join the 21st Century: An Argument for Implementing Online Voter Registration in Wyoming

Election Law Society · October 16, 2020 ·

By: Timmer McCroskey

In 2016, I was a young 20-year-old attending Arizona State University. When election season arrived, I decided to register in Wyoming as I still considered Wyoming my primary domicile. As all my Arizona friends around me registered to vote online or by filling out one of the many clipboards passed through campus, I was surprised to learn the only way to register outside of Wyoming was by printing out a form and then taking all my proper identification to a notary for authorization. Finding a notary, especially one that would do it for free (hello poor college student), was surprisingly difficult and took time and energy away from school. After taking the papers to the notary I then sent them to my local county clerk’s office, only for them not to be processed by the deadline. I could have flown back to Wyoming the day of the election and registered at my polling place, but that was unreasonable, expensive and time-consuming. Being my first primary election, I was shocked that I was being turned away from voting for such arbitrary and archaic requirements.

WY: Proposal Allows County Residents to Vote in City Elections

Election Law Society · October 19, 2016 ·

By: Gordon Dobbs

In many states, people who live just outside of a city’s borders and who are affected by the city’s laws are nevertheless forbidden from voting in the city’s elections. The Supreme Court considered whether this practice is constitutional in 1978 in the case of Holt Civic Club v. City of Tuscaloosa. In Holt, the Court held that extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) statutes that extend municipal police, sanitary, business, and other similar regulatory powers over those living outside municipal boundaries are indeed constitutional, even when those residents cannot vote in municipal elections. The Court held that those who lived outside of Tuscaloosa’s borders had no constitutional right to vote in Tuscaloosa elections, and that it was reasonable for the city of Tuscaloosa to extend certain services to those residents and require them to pay fees to fund those services. This form of ETJ has its roots in post-World War II development booms on the fringes of urban areas in the United States. Some states have been fairly aggressive in their implementation of ETJ: Texas, for instance, allows cities of over 100,000 to extend their ETJ for five miles outside of the city’s boundaries, and cities have used this power to regulate everything from lot size to fireworks use in the county.

Dark Money Influences Wyoming Politics

Election Law Society · January 27, 2016 ·

By: Gordon Dobbs

In response to concerns around the country, the Wyoming U.S. Attorney appointed an attorney to monitor complaints of election fraud and voter intimidation on Election Day. This move in Wyoming was largely seen as a precautionary measure. Despite the fact that the state does not require proof of citizenship and allows same-day registration, Wyoming has not endured allegations of election rigging. But as the Republican Secretary of State assured the public that the election would not be rigged in any way, Wyoming dealt with a more substantial concern: the influx of anonymous, out of state money.

Fighting for the First Amendment in Campaigns: Free Speech in Wyoming

Election Law Society · January 22, 2013 ·

by Kathleen Imbriglia

The regulation of campaigns is controversial, weighing the interests to prevent corruption and promote disclosure while protecting the First Amendment’s fundamental right to free speech. Such tension is exemplified by the ongoing suit, Free Speech v. Federal Election Commission, filed in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals by the Wyoming-based organization, Free Speech. Free Speech first filed a suit in June arguing their advertisements are considered “issue advertisements” and that they should not be subject to the ambiguous reach of the U.S. federal regulation, 11 C.F.R. § 100.22(b). However, on October 3, 2012, Federal District Judge Skavdahl upheld the regulation, deeming it to not be overly vague or uncertain on the grounds that it is consistent with the functional equivalence test. In response, Free Speech filed a motion for emergency injunction so as to allow Free Speech’s campaign advertisements to run prior to the 2012 federal election. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the motion and the case is currently awaiting appeal. [Read more…] about Fighting for the First Amendment in Campaigns: Free Speech in Wyoming