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Secretary of State flags "false" post-election audit in Weston County, urges further review
Summary
The secretary of state told the Management Audit Committee the office found the Weston County clerk submitted a post-election audit that the office determined to be false and recommended removal proceedings, which the governor declined to pursue.
Secretary of State Chuck Gray told the Management Audit Committee on July 9 that his office—s independent investigation into the Weston County 2024 general election identified multiple problems, and that the most serious was what the office described as a false post-election audit submitted by the county clerk.
Gray said the initial election errors (ballot misalignment and incorrect tabulation) were serious but that the office—s recommendation for removal centered on the subsequent post‑election audit submission. "The most important problem we highlighted and the problem that guided our recommendation for removal was the Western County Clerk's submittal of a false post election audit report on November 6," Gray told the committee.
Gray—s office found that the county clerk—s first post-election audit, which by statute is meant to compare a sample of ballot images against cast-vote records, did not reflect the alignment error that was later revealed by a hand count at the canvass. Gray said the clerk denied irregularities in phone contact shortly after the election and that the secretary—s office —s attempts to obtain a full explanation were not answered.
The secretary of state—s investigation concluded that either the clerk performed an audit and then falsely reported no errors, or no valid audit was performed. The office forwarded its finding and recommended removal under W.S. 18-3-902; Governor Gordon declined to initiate the removal process. Gray told the committee the governor—s decision did not address the false audit question in his declination letter.
Gray provided the committee with the investigation report and related exhibits. He urged the committee to consider those materials and indicated his office would cooperate with any further legislative review.
Provenance: Secretary of State Gray presented the investigation and findings beginning at 01:49:40 in the transcript; his statement and the investigation report are included in meeting materials.
