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: Judge Dismisses Challenge to Proof of Citizenship Law, Leaving Barriers for Voters in Place | Yunior Rivas/Democracy Docket
A federal judge dismissed a major lawsuit challenging Wyoming’s new proof of citizenship voter registration law. In an order issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl, appointed by former President Barack Obama, ruled the plaintiffs in the case failed to show they would be personally harmed by the law, which took effect earlier this month. The law requires voters to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers, in order to register to vote. Voting rights advocates have warned it could disenfranchise eligible voters who don’t have matching or ready access to those documents including women, rural and low-income voters. Read Article