Wyoming Senate committee advances election-transparency bill after amendments

Senate File 190, a package of election-related measures including a requirement that paper ballots be the default in Wyoming and a proof-of-U.S.-citizenship requirement for voter registration, was advanced out of the Senate Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Committee after floor sponsors and county clerks negotiated several amendments and the committee voted to report the bill with amendments.

The bill’s sponsor summarized the measure as three primary elements: a default to paper ballots at precincts, shortening in-person early voting to two weeks in the original draft, and documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register. “Because paper ballots do provide a tangible auditable record of every vote cast, reducing the risk of electronic manipulation,” the sponsor said in committee testimony.

Clerks and voting-rights groups told the committee some provisions needed revision. Mary Lankford, representing the county clerks, said the package folded multiple House bills together and urged the committee to preserve local practices and operational feasibility. Laramie County Clerk Deborah Lee, who described the county’s use of ballot-marking devices that print auditable paper ballots, said switching Laramie County back to pen-and-paper as a default would “completely change our operations” and could cost “as much as a hundred to a hundred and 50,000.”

“The equipment has been used statewide since 2020,” Lee said, arguing the county’s touch-screen ballot-marking devices produce a printed paper ballot that is both auditable and reduces overvotes. “Our post-election audits have demonstrated 100% accuracy, and our results have never been challenged,” she told the committee.

Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray supported the bill’s components and emphasized the office’s interest in a uniform mechanism for documentary proof of citizenship at registration. “I believe Wyoming can and should require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for every new registrant to vote in all Wyoming elections,” Gray said, listing acceptable documents the bill includes, such as passports, birth certificates and driver’s licenses that indicate U.S. citizenship.

Gray and other witnesses also discussed the bill’s recount and hand-count provisions. The sponsor had proposed raising the automatic recount trigger from 1% to 2% in some contests and creating a state “election recount account” with an initial appropriation (discussed in committee as about $200,000) to reimburse counties for hand recount costs. The committee ultimately removed the appropriation from the bill during amendment votes.

Public testimony reflected a range of operational and access concerns. Gail Simmons, who said she compiled county-level early-voting data, told the committee early and absentee voting made up about 29.7% of primary votes and 42.6% of general-election votes in recent years and urged that clerks need the full 28 days currently allowed for in-person early voting. “They need their 28 days,” she said. Marissa Carpio of the Equality State Policy Center said she supported some clerks’ amendments and warned that shortening early voting or adding documentary requirements could disproportionately affect voters with inflexible schedules: “I worry if we close that window more that others will be disenfranchised.”

Clerks proposed a set of amendments the committee accepted in part: replace language limiting electronic ballot-marking devices to “persons with disabilities” with language allowing electors to choose electronic ballot-marking devices that produce a printed ballot; restore language protecting absentee voting access rather than shortening the statutory period for absentee ballots; add reimbursement language for facility rental fees when counties must secure space for recounts; and remove the bill’s appropriation so the bill could move to the floor without a second referral to the Appropriations Committee. Several conforming and technical changes proposed by clerks were also adopted or prepared for LSO drafting.

Supporters and opponents said they were willing to continue working on the proposal. Chuck Gray urged the committee not to allow language that would effectively let counties rely on an unreadable barcode as the sole auditable record. “You see that it spits out the names that you wrote on, but the names aren’t what’s being cast. It’s the barcode,” he said, explaining the concern about the relationship between printed summary text and the machine-readable marks used for tabulation.

After amendments were adopted, the committee held a roll-call vote and reported SF 190 with amendments. The committee vote was recorded as five ayes and no recorded nays; the bill will continue through the Senate process with the adopted changes and with the appropriation removed.

The committee said clerks, the Secretary of State’s office and stakeholder groups will continue to work on drafting and technical issues as the bill proceeds.

Votes at a glance

Senate File 190 — “Election transparency” (as amended in committee): advanced out of committee (committee vote recorded as 5 ayes, 0 nays). The committee removed the bill’s appropriation and adopted clerk-proposed amendments restoring absentee provisions, allowing voter-choice use of ballot-marking devices that produce an inspectable paper ballot, adding facility-rental reimbursement language for recounts, and adopting other conforming edits. The bill still includes a proof-of-citizenship registration requirement and recount threshold changes in its current text.

Background and next steps

Senate File 190 compiles provisions from multiple House bills (including references in committee testimony to House Bill 245 on pen-and-paper ballots, House Bill 232 on recounts, House Bill 157 on proof of voter citizenship, and House Bill 156 on proof of residency). Committee testimony flagged specific statutory sections and conforming language in multiple places in the bill text; clerks and the Secretary of State requested additional technical work by the Legislative Service Office (LSO) and said they would provide amendment language and operational detail before the measure goes to the Senate floor.