Removing ballot boxes could severely restrict voter access, says Laramie County clerk

CHEYENNE — Removing Laramie County’s only absentee ballot drop box would create voting barriers for a majority of voting-age residents, according to Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee.

Secretary of State Chuck Gray asked county clerks last week to remove ballot boxes in Wyoming, claiming this form of voting is unsafe and violates state statute. The statute Gray referred to, W.S. 22-9-113, prescribes that absentee ballots shall be “mailed or delivered to the clerk.”

“The plain language of the statute … does not authorize delivery of an absentee ballot to an inanimate object, such as an unstaffed ballot drop box,” Gray wrote.

The use of ballot boxes is up to the county clerk, however, and not the secretary of state. County clerks reminded Gray of this in their response two days later.

Members of the County Clerks Association of Wyoming stated in their letter that ballot boxes are an “administrative function permitted by statute” and necessary in the eyes of their constituents. “Without judicial interpretation or legislative clarity, we continue to hold our interpretation as the same,” the letter stated.

Laramie County installed its ballot box in 2020, which sits outside the Laramie County Governmental Complex on Carey Avenue. Lee said she received a lot of correspondence from voters who were grateful for the ballot drop box.

“They could deliver their ballot securely, they could deliver it independently,” Lee said. “Some of them had health concerns, and they really were glad that they were able to get that ballot to us without having to come into the office.”

The ballot box is equipped with a recently upgraded 24-hour camera system, locks and seals, Lee said. If a seal is broken, it alerts the clerk that the box had been tampered with. The box is emptied out once a day, but closer to each election, it gets emptied two to three times a day, she said.

“They’re more secure than a post office box,” Lee said.

There’s seven or eight ballot boxes in Wyoming, Lee said, and there’s never been a reported incident of a box being broken into or tampered with. Some of the boxes have been there since long before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she added.

“It’s just a great means for the voter to ensure their ballot reaches us in advance of the deadline,” Lee said.

The risk of mail-in ballots

A recent change in the voter rules packet by the secretary of state cut the window for absentee voting in Wyoming from 45 days to 28. If a voter is mailing in their ballot, it has to be in the clerk’s hands before 7 p.m. on Election Day or the day of the primary election, Lee said.

Wyoming statute does not allow clerks to count mail-in ballots received after the deadline, even if it was postmarked before the deadline.

“We always tell voters to allow seven days for the ballot to reach you by mail,” Lee said. “And if you’re mailing it back, allow seven days for it to be returned. So that’s 14 days out of the (28-day) period right there.”

Absentee ballots will be sent out by county clerks starting July 23, the first day of the absentee voting period for the Aug. 20 primary. The longer somebody waits to request a mail-in ballot, the less likely their vote will get counted, especially with the shorter time frame, Lee said.

In order for the mail-in ballot to be counted, the voter has to sign the return envelope. If it’s not signed, the ballot has to be returned to the voter and mailed back with the signature.

“When it’s in the dropbox, we are generally able to get a hold of them (and get it resolved quickly),” Lee said.

Other issues with mail-in ballots are risks that are out of the hands of the voters and clerks. Sometimes a received ballot is damaged in the process, and risks being invalid if the clerk can’t properly read it. Other times, the mail gets mis-delivered and has to be rerouted back to the correct post office, which can add a few extra days.

Lee said she’s also heard from voters that they’re uncomfortable with having their ballots in the hands of a third party, like the U.S. Postal Service.

“They feel safer personally putting it in our drop box,” she said.

If ballot boxes were to be removed, Lee predicted a significant number of ballots would not be received by the deadline, “especially given the reduction in the period of absentee voting.”

“It’s a quite significant reduction,” Lee said. “The post office handles millions of pieces of mail, and by and large they do a good job. But stuff does happen.”