Wyoming

Articles about voting issues in Wyoming.

Lawsuit challenges redistricting plan | trib.com

Apr 072012

Wyoming’s newly adopted legislative redistricting plan is under fire from a group of citizens who filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming it fails to give the state’s less-populous counties fair representation. The lawsuit, filed in state District Court in Laramie, charges that state lawmakers were careful in the legislative session that ended last month to make sure that incumbents didn’t have to run against each other. But it claims the Legislature only gave lip service to the notion of making sure the less-populated counties got a fair voice. Gillette lawyer Nick Carter filed the lawsuit Thursday in Laramie County District Court. It seeks a court order to block Gov. Matt Mead and the other four statewide elected officials from implementing the redistricting plan. Read More »

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Wyoming Comments Off Topics: census, redistricting

Court denies Wyoming county's voting rights appeal | NECN.com

Feb 232012

A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected Fremont County’s appeal of a voting rights challenge by American Indians that has forced the county to abandon its system of at-large voting for commissioners. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upholds a 2010 ruling by U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne. Johnson had ruled in favor of members of the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes who claimed Fremont County’s system of at-large voting for county commissioners violated the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the Indian vote. Fremont County didn’t contest Johnson’s finding that at-large voting violated the law. But the county appealed after Johnson rejected its proposals to remediate the violation by creating a single, Indian majority district centered on the Wind River Indian Reservation while continuing with at-large voting in the rest of the county. Read More »

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Wyoming Comments Off Topics: Eastern Shoshone, Fremont County, Northern Arapaho, Voting Rights Act

Redistricting bill faces little opposition in House | Trib.com

Feb 172012

Despite expectations of a long, contentious debate, the Legislature’s 2012 redistricting bill sailed through the House on Wednesday on voice vote — with only one minor change. House Bill 42, sponsored by the Joint Interim Committee on Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions, comes up for a second vote today. Expectations of at least one amendment to change the configuration in the southwest corner of Wyoming faded Wednesday. Read More »

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Wyoming Comments Off Topics: Owen Petersen, redistricting

Bill would alter how Wyoming handles primary elections | Billings Gazette

Feb 082012

In 2010, Chris Rothfuss was elected to the Wyoming Senate, even though registered Republicans and independents in his Laramie district didn’t have a choice in the matter. Now, the Laramie Democrat wants to ensure that doesn’t happen again. Today, he plans to introduce legislation that would change the way political primaries in Wyoming are held. Currently, voters from the two major parties choose their general election nominee during the August primary election; minor parties, such as the Libertarians, nominate their own candidates for the November ballot. Under Rothfuss’ proposal, statewide and legislative candidates from all parties — as well as unaffiliated candidates — would run against each other in a single primary race. All registered voters would be asked to pick two candidates, and the top two vote-getters would then face each other in the general election. Read More »

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Wyoming Comments Off Topics: primary election, top two primary

Attorney General Wants Secretary of State to Sue Himself | Eyewitness News 9

Jan 112012

The Wyoming attorney general’s office wants a district judge to list Secretary of State Max Maxfield as a defendant in Maxfield’s own lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of term limits for him and other statewide elected officials. Maxfield, who’s now in his second four-year term, filed a lawsuit as a private individual in September claiming that the state law that limits statewide elected officials to two four-year terms is unconstitutional. He previously also served two terms as state auditor. Read More »

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Wyoming Comments Off Topics: Max Maxfield, term limits

Should Wyoming voters be able to register online? Wyoming Tribune Eagle Online

Jul 182011

It is unclear if Wyoming will join the growing number of states that are adding the ability of residents to register to vote online, state officials say. Recently passed legislation in Maryland makes it the 10th state to implement online voter registration. Advocates of abandoning the paper-only policy say it can save money and make voting more accessible to the public.

Jennie Bowser, a senior fellow with the National Conference of State Legislatures, said many states have considered adding the online option since Arizona became the first in 2002. Read More »

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Editorials, Wyoming Comments Off Topics: online registration, voter registration
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