Gray warns clerks about private funding of election administration

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Following the presence of the Center for Technology and Civic Life at the Wyoming Association of County Officers’ meeting in Rock Springs on Sept. 25, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray sent a letter to Wyoming’s 23 county clerks warning them of CTCL’s role in the private funding of election administration in past elections.

Gray said he also alerted clerks to “Wyoming’s unique vulnerability as one of a minority of states that has not passed legislation prohibiting the private funding of election administration,” according to a Thursday news release.

During the 2023 interim session, Gray warned county clerks of attempts by groups like CTCL to fund election administration across the country and proposed interim legislation that would have banned private funding of election administration in Wyoming. This legislation was ultimately tabled during the 2024 legislative session.

“I was disturbed to see Wyoming being targeted by CTCL, one of the main private organizations causing concern about the private funding of election administration across the country,” Gray said in the release. “I have been vocal in my warnings against groups like CTCL and the real dangers of Zuck Bucks and partisan organizations attempting to fund election administration in every state. As I have previously warned, these grants are also deeply disturbing given the capacity for them to expose states like Wyoming to funding streams linked to potentially foreign actors. Those in the media have repeatedly shouted my warnings down, citing the common trope that ‘this doesn’t happen in Wyoming.’

“CTCL’s presence shows once again that the media is wrong. Just as I did in the 2024 legislative session, I will continue to advocate for a ban on Zuck Bucks in Wyoming, so that we can protect our election officials from this sort of solicitation.”

This story was published on October 4, 2024.