The Park County Commissioners will not approve a proposal by Park County Republican Men’s Club to hand-count ballots in the 2022 elections, but the proposal remains in play. The commission followed the counsel of Park County and Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Skoric, who advised against the proposal, citing several apparent conflicts with Wyoming election statutes as well as federal law. The commission will now consider whether to approve a request to hand-count ballots from the previous election instead, pending an opinion from the Wyoming Attorney General. Wyoming uses paper ballots and tallies them with electronic counting machines. The Park County Republican Men’s Club proposed counting those ballots by hand, characterizing it as a way to reassure voters of the accuracy of the machines. Since then, Park County has become a focal point in a statewide conversation about election integrity. While maintaining that Wyoming’s elections are fair, efficient and free from tampering, election officials agree that voter confidence in the process needs a boost. Hand-counting ballots, however, is not a legal solution, according to the county attorney.
Wyoming: Bill requiring voters to use a pen-and-paper ballot passes House | Hannah Shields/Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Laramie County voters have used touch-screen voting machines in their local elections for years, but a bill passed by the Wyoming House of Representatives on Friday would require voters to use a paper ballot. House 245, “Pen and paper ballots,” requires all county clerks to set the default voting method to paper ballots, with an exception provided to voters who have a disability. Laramie County is the only one of Wyoming’s 23 counties to use touch-screen voting machines. Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, the sponsor of the bill, said the state needs to have uniform election laws across all 23 counties. Secretary of State Chuck Gray previously expressed support for Knapp’s bill during a House Appropriations Committee meeting, saying he found Laramie County’s elections “unsatisfying.” Read Article