Citizen raises transparency concerns about post‑election hand‑count audit

Harry Pollock, identifying himself as a citizen of Cherokee County, used the meeting’s public‑comment period to question procedures at a post‑election hand‑count audit held Aug. 29.

Pollock alleged that a deputy county attorney asked observers about who called Secretary of State Chuck Gray and that observers were told, via photocopied notices, not to use phones or recording devices. He said county staff handed observers a printed excerpt of Wyoming Constitution Article VI, Section 11 (on the manner of holding elections), highlighted language about ballot secrecy, and asked: who were the voters in this hand count? Pollock said the hand count involved anonymous ballots and that the warnings about recording “raise serious First Amendment transparency questions.”

The comment concluded with a plea for openness: “Transparency builds confidence, intimidation, and unnecessary restrictions destroy it,” Pollock said.

The board did not make a formal response at the meeting; the chair thanked Pollock and stated his remarks were part of the official record. No investigation or corrective action was announced during the session. The county attorney’s office and election officials were not represented in this segment of the meeting and did not respond on the record.