Laramie County clerk says there were ‘no errors’ in voting test

CHEYENNE — Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee said Friday that a lawsuit filed by the Wyoming Republican Party over a voting machine test “seeks to disrupt” the primary election process.

The Laramie County GOP claims Lee failed to follow all statutory guidelines during a voting machine test Monday morning. After it filed a formal complaint, the state GOP took it a step further and filed a lawsuit.

In a Friday morning news release, Lee said the test of the two vote tabulation machines had “no errors,” and that “none of the complaints allege an error has occurred.”

“The County maintains full confidence in the accuracy and operation of all our voting equipment, and will respond fully to all complaints and litigation filed,” Lee said in the release. “The complaint seeks to disrupt our current primary election and force my office to provide alternative means for counting ballots expected to be cast by more than 5,700 absentee voters in Laramie County.”

Lee did not reply to multiple attempts to contact her for additional comment Friday.

Laramie County GOP Chairman Taft Love said in a text message to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle that “the voting test did not meet state statute requirements … and therefore cannot be certified to use in this election.”

Out of concern for “the integrity” of the election, Love filed a complaint on behalf of the county’s GOP with the Secretary of State on Tuesday.

Secretary of State Chuck Gray sent a letter to the Laramie County clerk the same day the initial complaint was filed. Gray said in the letter that the assignment of the same number of votes to each candidate “is contrary to” state statute and that “these allegations are very concerning.”

“The (Secretary of State’s Office) letter very clearly tells us how they do not meet state statute,” Love wrote.

Wyoming statute requires that “a different number of valid votes shall be assigned to each candidate for an office, and for and against each measure” during a voting test.

Although an investigation by Laramie County District Attorney Sylvia Hackl was already underway, the Wyoming GOP executive committee wanted “to take all measures to restore integrity in the election” and launched its own lawsuit against the county clerk Thursday, according to the party’s state chairman, W. Frank Eathorne.

“The procedure needs to be done correctly, or we can’t trust the results,” Eathorne said. “Therefore, we can’t trust the machines and the outcome.”

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the Wyoming GOP, Cheyenne Republican Reps. Ben Hornok and Clarence Styvar, Love, Dallas Tyrrell and Kathy Scigliano. The Laramie County GOP is not a listed plaintiff in the case.

The lawsuit is filed in Laramie County District Court, and will be overseen by District Judge Catherine Rodgers.

What the complaint says

According to court documents, Love, Tyrrell and Brian Schuck attended the Laramie County voting test as witnesses on Monday. Wyoming law requires the county clerk to notify and invite the county chairperson of each political party that has a candidate on the ballot to the test.

Laramie County Democratic Party Chairman Jordan Evans told the WTE he was unable to attend the event.

During the test, which was conducted at approximately 8:30 a.m., Love, Tyrrell and Schuck all noticed that the “pre-audited group of paper ballots or ballot cards,” also called the “test deck,” had the same number of votes assigned to each candidate for each office, according to court documents.

All three witnesses allegedly brought to Lee’s attention that the test was not in compliance with Wyoming statute. According to court documents, “Lee acknowledged that the Test was not being conducted as required by (state statute) … but did nothing to correct the situation.”

Love previously said Lee “seemed to understand” and said she would email the voting company, Electronic Systems & Software (ES& S), and order more ballots to run another test.

By 8 a.m. Tuesday, Lee emailed Love saying she didn’t receive a response from ES& S and wouldn’t be able to run another test until next week.

Tyrrell said in a text message to the WTE the witnesses were “excited” to be a part of the certification process, and the lawsuit “is not an attack on the clerk or the office.”

“We ultimately want a fair election with integrity and not have any doubts in the outcome,” Tyrrell said.

Injunctive relief

The voting machines have already been certified by the Laramie County Clerk’s office, according to the lawsuit. Plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that Lee failed to properly test the machines and enter an injunction to stop them from being used in the primary election.

Plaintiffs claim the use of these voting machines “will undermine the integrity” of the primary election “and deprive the electorate of Laramie County and the Plaintiffs of their fundamental rights.”

Love previously told the WTE the purpose of the injunction is to either run another test of the voting machines or switch to an alternative method of counting votes, such as a hand count.

Platte County Clerk Malcolm Ervin said he doubts the county will switch to a hand count this close to the election.

“The likelihood that they’ll hand count is practically zero,” Ervin said.

State statute requires all voting machines to be tested at least two weeks before the primary election day, which falls on Aug. 20 this year. Ervin said he believed this only applies to the first test. The purpose of the two-week window is to reconcile any concerns or errors with the voting machines after the first run, he said.

Eathorne said the flawed test only spreads further public mistrust of voting machines.

He said the “only outstanding option” is to hand count ballots.

“Improperly conducted tests resulting in unreliable machines, and therefore vote outcomes, is a disruption of our election process,” Eathorne said Friday via text message to the WTE. “The grassroots and the WYGOP seek only to have our elections run transparently and according to law. In Wyoming, our elected county clerks bear the largest responsibility (for) holding accurate elections.”

Ervin speculated that some of the “fearmongering” around voting machines is spread by the state’s dominant party.

“I understand there’s distrust, but the testing has shown that they’re accurate,” Ervin said. “The major party is sending out information that might be misleading or intended to stoke fear.”

This story was published on August 10, 2024.