County reviews election security plan — Officials say plan predates local controversies, may be revisited
Weston County commissioners discussed election security during their June 3 meeting, learning that the county already has a formal election security plan in place and may revisit it to determine whether updates are needed.
The brief discussion arose during a broader conversation on courthouse security when commissioners questioned what election security measures currently exist.
“Do we have an election security plan?” a commissioner asked during the meeting.
Weston County Emergency Manager Gilbert Nelson confirmed that the county developed an election security plan last year and offered to provide the document to commissioners for review.
“And then if you guys think there needs to be adjustments, you guys can have that input or whatever. But there is an election security plan that we did,” he said.
Commissioners agreed to review the plan and consider whether any changes are warranted.
According to Nelson, election security planning has largely been driven by state and federal efforts rather than any local concerns.
“It is more state driven than anything,” Nelson said in a June 18 email to the News Letter Journal. “There were even grants available for election security.”
Nelson said counties across Wyoming have spent years developing election security plans and procedures, with many involving local law enforcement agencies long before Weston County’s recent efforts.
“Most, if not all, counties were developing election security plans, and I believe for the most part other counties had been involved on the law enforcement side of things long before we got more involved in it,” Nelson said.
He said the increased emphasis on election security originated from national concerns and scrutiny of election systems over the past decade.
“With the culture of things, federally, not locally, election security had become a focus,” Nelson said. “I believe after the Russia-Trump stuff, and it finally trickled its way to us.”
Nelson emphasized that Weston County’s election security plan was developed before the controversies and legal proceedings that have recently drawn attention to the county clerk’s office.
“The plans we have are not related to the recent events that have happened in Weston County,” Nelson said.
However, he noted that county officials may want to review the plan to determine whether any adjustments are appropriate in light of those events.
“Maybe we could go over them again to see if there could be some adjustments because of the recent events,” he said.
During the meeting, officials also discussed continued law enforcement assistance with election-related duties. When asked whether sheriff’s deputies would again assist with election materials during the upcoming election cycle, Weston County Under Sheriff Dan Fields indicated he did not anticipate any issues providing that support.
The discussion concluded with commissioners agreeing to review the existing election security plan and consider any potential updates before future elections.
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