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Opinion: Wyoming Secretary of State Nominee Chuck Gray Wants Residents to Cowboy Up and Vote in Person

Election Law Society · January 2, 2023 ·

By Hunter Hoffler

Wyoming Republican Chuck Gray, the recent nominee for Wyoming Secretary of State, claims he intends to make significant changes when he arrives in the State’s capital of Cheyenne. Like many Trump-backed candidates, Gray believes the 2020 presidential election was a fraud and fears his State is rife with voter fraud as well.

Gray ran on the promise that he would curtail voter fraud despite only three convicted cases of voter fraud in Wyoming since the year 2000. To combat this issue, Gray has openly stated that he wants to ban ballot drop boxes in his State, instead opting for the traditional practice of collecting “all paper ballots.” The presumed Secretary-elect would prefer in-person, paper-ballot voting. In Gray’s words, “The fact that a few counties have moved off of paper ballots . . . is really wrong.”

Despite a heavily Republican constituency in Wyoming, Gray asserts that local elections can still become compromised through nefarious ballot collection practices. As a result, Gray’s campaign for Wyoming Secretary of State fixated on improving election integrity and demonstrating the likely impacts of voter fraud. Hoping to impact his constituency, Gray repeatedly aired the controversial and critically ridiculed documentary “2000 Mules” by Dinesh D’Souza at his campaign stops.

The question remains: what authority will Gray have to implement his election integrity agenda? While in the state legislature, Gray also campaigned on, and promulgated bills to, improve election integrity. In 2021, Gray and his colleagues passed Wyoming’s Voter ID Law, which required residents to possess a valid state or federal form of identification to vote in person. Fortunately for those who oppose Gray’s agenda as Secretary of State, he alone will not be able to implement radical change to Wyoming’s voting procedures. In fact, within the scope of voting and voter registration, the Wyoming Secretary of State’s duties are relegated mainly to the administration and oversight of elections. In other words, to implement sweeping changes to the way Wyoming residents can vote, Gray will need to go through the State’s legislature and adhere to federal voting regulations.

The more immediate concern (should Gray be sworn in as Wyoming’s Secretary of State) is staff turnover in the Secretary of State’s office, particularly amongst those experienced in administering elections. Reducing the collective experience of the group administering elections could lead to trouble in upcoming state and federal election cycles should a hitch in the process occur. To date, one official has vacated her position based on concerns over Gray’s views.

The nation’s voters are broadly divided along party lines regarding the ratification of election security legislation – which is generally a priority of registered Republicans – or election openness legislation – which is usually a priority of registered Democrats. However, Wyoming legislators on both sides of the aisle are concerned enough with Gray’s positions on the 2020 Presidential election and Wyoming election security to propose legislation that would strip his soon-to-be office of its duties to oversee elections.

Opponents of Gray’s proposals fear that the growing number of local and federal candidates running on platforms of election insecurity may spread fear that the election process is flawed. Mistrust in the election system may, in turn, lead to uncertainty, harassment, and lack of participation at the polls.

What is clear is that there should be a bipartisan coalition that works to ensure elections are safe for the people of Wyoming. What remains to be seen is whether Chuck Gray and his principles will be part of that conversation.

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.

mailbox

[Read more…] about The Cost 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.

[Read more…] about It’s Time for the Wild West to Join the 21st Century: An Argument for Implementing Online Voter Registration in Wyoming

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.

[Read more…] about WY: Proposal Allows County Residents to Vote in City Elections

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.

[Read more…] about Dark Money Influences Wyoming Politics

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