CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Committee voted Monday to sponsor a sweeping package of six election reform bills that boost manual ballot counting and expand poll watcher authority.
The bills advanced despite stern warnings from county clerks that the changes could prove logistically impossible to implement by the 2026 election cycle. Critics argued the package restricts ballot access and competition for independent candidates.
The committee’s action sponsors six working draft measures that focus on shifting the election process toward increased hand counting of ballots and enhanced oversight.
Lawmakers first approved “26LSO-0043, Random hand count audits of election results,” 11–2. The bill requires county clerks to conduct a hand count audit in one randomly selected precinct after primary and general elections to compare manual results to electronic tabulation.
The committee also voted 11–2 to sponsor “26LSO-0044, Elections-hand counting for recounts,” which mandates automatic hand recounts in close statewide and legislative races. Rep. Mike Yin, D-Teton County, and Sen. Cole Case, R-Lander, cast the dissenting votes on both measures.
Malcolm Ervin, Platte County clerk and president of the County Clerks Association, urged the committee to consider a later effective date for the changes. The bill requires the Secretary of State to adopt rules for the audits by July 1, 2026.
“I hate to be the one that comes up here and says I worry that this as written can’t be implemented effectively in ’26, but that is the reality,” Ervin said, adding the state should bear the cost of the new recount method.
A speaker from Sheridan County, Elena Campbell, supported transparency but sought more expansive audits, saying: “If the mechanics of voting are shrouded in complexity or lack transparency, trust in the electoral outcome diminishes, eroding the foundation of our very republic.”
The contested “26LSO-0045, Poll watchers-polling stations observation” passed 9–4. The bill expands poll watcher authority, clarifying they can observe all election procedures, including setup and shutdown. It allows one poll watcher per political party for each precinct served at multi-precinct locations.
Sen. Bill Landen, R-Natrona County, was strongly opposed, calling the bill excessive.
“To me, this is the bottom dweller of the whole bunch,” he said. “We’ve had testimony that, in many of the circumstances, we don’t even have venues that will hold all of these people. This is a very comprehensive bill that asks an awful lot out of our county clerks. … I don’t think it’s needed. I think it’s overkill and it does nothing for the integrity of elections in my view.”
Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese detailed the potential logistical burdens, saying her 32 precincts “could mean 96 poll watchers. This is more than my largest vote center has judges for.”
Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Laramie County, supported the measure.
“We need to provide for purity of these elections. We need to let the people know that these elections are accurate and competent,” he said.
The committee also voted 9–3 to sponsor “26LSO-0048, Elections-acceptable identification revisions,” requiring all acceptable ID for in-person voting to include a photograph. It repeals Medicare/Medicaid and public school/university IDs as acceptable forms. Secretary of State Chuck Gray said the goal was to achieve “true voter ID” to prevent voter impersonation.
Richard Garrett of AARP Wyoming asked the committee to consider alternatives for elderly voters who might struggle to get photo IDs. Garrett offered several proposals, including one modeled after Arkansas law.
“In Arkansas, we actually find that nursing home residents without a photo ID are allowed to vote at the polling place with documentation of nursing home residency provided by a long-term care facility administrator, attesting the voter is a resident of the facility,” he said. “Nebraska also allows for the same provision.”
The bill aimed at independent candidate requirements, “26LSO-0046, Elections-independent candidate requirements,” also passed 10–3, increasing the required number of signatures to 5% for district races and aligning the filing deadline with partisan candidates. Landen, Yin and Case voted no.
“What this does is close the door on independent candidates, and ultimately the question is what are we afraid of?” Yin said. “This is literally restricting access to the general election ballot in a way that kind of just says that we’re afraid of competition. … Out of all of the bills that we have so far, this is the most rankling one just because it says we’re scared, and I think it makes it very apparent that we’re scared as a legislature.”
The final bill sponsored was “26LSO-0047, Elections-voting machine and voting system tests,” which passed 11–1, with Yin again dissenting. The bill clarifies testing procedures and removes the previous presumption that voting machines were properly prepared.
The committee tabled “26LSO-0049, Election transparency,” an omnibus bill that would have mandated paper ballots and lowered the period for early in-person absentee voting.
The body previously supported “26LSO-0041, Ballot drop boxes-prohibition” during its August meeting. Under that proposed change, marked absentee ballots must be mailed or hand delivered to the clerk, explicitly banning the use of receptacles by officials.
