Comments mixed on Wyoming Secretary of State Gray's proposed voter registration rule

Jan. 26—CHEYENNE — What should have been a nonpartisan issue became a heated political debate in the Capitol's auditorium on Friday, when dozens of people turned out in person and online to comment on a controversial new voter registration rule.

Secretary of State Chuck Gray filed a notice of the rule on Dec. 7, which requires that a registered voter's residential address match the address listed on their valid Wyoming driver's license or state-issued ID card. At the time, Gray launched a public comment period on the new rule, which ended Friday, the same day as the hearing.

During the beginning of the hearing, Gray criticized media coverage of the proposed voter rule, claiming news articles, such as one posted recently by WyoFile, spread "misleading" information.

"The media's inaccurate reporting on this rule has been really unfortunate, but is not surprising," Gray told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle via text message Friday evening.

The majority of public comment during the hearing was in support of the rule change, with people citing concerns over election fraud and voter integrity. Several Wyoming lawmakers, including Rep. Scott Smith, R-Lingle; Rep. Tamara Trujillo, R-Cheyenne; and Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, applauded Gray for his efforts to enforce tighter voter restrictions.

"Identification for voter registration will help stop various types of fraud, such as impersonating other registered voters, stopping non-citizens from voting and preventing out-of-state residents or someone registered in multiple jurisdictions," Trujillo said. "I extend my sincere and heartfelt thank you to you and your office for your dedication."

The Heritage Foundation only recorded three cases of voter fraud in Wyoming since 2000. However, many commenters said this shouldn't stop Wyoming from taking proactive action.

Platte County Clerk Malcolm Ervin, a representative of the County Clerks' Association of Wyoming, said Gray and his office have done a "great job" of working with them on the rule and hearing out their concerns. However, Ervin said he and many other county clerks could not support the final product.

"We don't disagree with the concept or the idea," Ervin told the WTE. "But the product that's on the table today, we are not in support of at this point."

Ervin said it wasn't the rule he was against, but the timing of its enactment and the impact it will have on Wyoming voters. If the rule was amended to require only state ID, he added, then "a lot of our concerns are fixed."

Challenging Gray's authority

Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, who co-chairs the Legislature's Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee, challenged the secretary of state's statutory authority to enact election rules to require proof of residency.

Wyoming statute lists acceptable forms of identification "by rule of the secretary of state as adequate proof of the identity of a voter." What Wyoming statute doesn't require, Case said, is a proof of residency.

"We didn't put residency in there. Maybe we should have, but it does not say that," Case said, referring to the state lawmakers.

The senator went on to list the rulemaking authority of the secretary of state as chief election officer, which is found under the same statute. He noted "none of these areas provide for residency," and that this proposed amendment "is straying" from authority delegated to the secretary of state as chief election officer.

"Maybe we should have given you more power, but I can't help what's written here," Case said. "And it doesn't say residency."

Similar statutory concerns were reflected in a memorandum sent to Gray by members of the County Clerks' Association on Jan. 8, which posed two policy questions: Should proof of state residency or proof of residence address be compulsory at the time of registration? If yes, then how would that prospective voter prove their residence address?

Under current Wyoming statute, county clerks are provided the authority to "investigate qualifications of any voter registration, when (they have) reasonable cause to believe that the voter may be unqualified." Only proof of identity is compulsory in current state statute.

"As such, CCAW does not believe the Legislature has sufficiently answered the first policy question we posed, which was whether proof of residence address be compulsory at the time of registration," the memorandum reads.

It is because of this statutory complexity, Ervin said, that his association approached the Corporations Committee last year during the interim.

"This is a discussion that will exist before, during and after this session," Ervin said. "We're going to have to really work on this in perpetuity."

When asked why he believed these statutes granted him authority, Gray recited these same statutes back to the WTE.

Constitutional, timeliness concerns

Supreme Court cases regarding voter qualification laws have all been decided under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Ervin and several county clerks who testified during the public hearing raised concerns that this new rule would "discourage" qualified voters in Wyoming from registering, such as those who are unhoused or live a nomadic lifestyle.

"We have significant concerns that residents entitled to vote would become disgruntled or opt not to register when told their Wyoming driver's license or ID card is not sufficient proof," members wrote in the Jan. 8 memo to Gray.

Many people, such as Heidi Reed with the Wyoming Republican Party, argued that this should not create a substantial barrier for people in this category.

"My experience with many indigent homeless and nomadic people is that the majority have little difficulty in signing up and utilizing local food pantries, social services and ... medical services, all of which require some degree of identification," Reed said.

Marguerite Herman, with the League of Women Voters, said I.D. requirements for social services versus voter registration were not comparable.

"I just encourage people not to compare (this rule) to activities that are not enshrined in the Constitution," Herman said.

Data provided by the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division showed registered Wyoming voters aged 40 and older had the largest turnout for their demographic. Tom Lacock, who commented on behalf of Wyoming AARP, said this new rule "may be a little confusing for some of our older adults."

Older Wyomingites who recently moved into nursing homes would face the most struggles with voter registration under the new rule, Lacock said. While most nursing home contracts allow the home to be listed as a resident's address, those contracts may be made by relatives of the senior placed and both senior and family members may forget to register the resident to vote.

"At that point, the lack of a current Wyoming driver's license, utility bills with the person's name on it and a lack of nursing home contract younger than 90 days may result in that person losing their vote," Lacock said.

Timeliness is another issue of concern, Ervin said. Should the rule be passed into statute, the earliest it could be implemented is two weeks before the May municipal election.

"Up until that point, (we) will have been registering people for the May municipal election one way, and then all of a sudden, only two weeks from election, have a different way of registering," Ervin said. "That is problematic."

Gray told the WTE via text he and his office will "give careful consideration ... to ensure a rule is forwarded which strengthens election integrity" in Wyoming.

"The 2024 election is going to be contentious and ugly," Ervin said. "We just want to make sure it's administered well and clean and fairly."

Hannah Shields is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. She can be reached at 307-633-3167 or hshields@wyomingnews.com. You can follow her on X @happyfeet004.