Secretary of State urges approval of new voter registration rules

JACKSON — Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray urged the governor Tuesday to approve new election rules that would require proof of Wyoming residency to vote.

The rules the Secretary of State’s Office put forward could change the forms of identification acceptable to register with and lead to some voters bringing in utility bills or rental leases to show they live in the state. The effective date is June 1.

Gov. Mark Gordon is the last stop after months of public comment and developing the final version of the agency rules. He has 75 days dating from March 28 to decide whether to approve the new voter registration requirements.

Gray defended his rules in a letter to Gordon after the Legislative Service Office conducted a review citing concerns that the rules weren’t within the scope of statutory authority delegated to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Gray called for Gordon to resist a “one-sided analysis aimed at crippling commonsense election integrity measures.”

The LSO is a “permanent, nonpartisan central staff office of the Wyoming Legislature.” It was created by the Legislature in 1971, and staffers have many responsibilities, including drafting bills and amendments for lawmakers and conducting legal research and policy analysis.

LSO staffers recommended that Gordon direct Gray to rescind or amend the rules to address further issues cited in the analysis. The Legislature’s Management Council voted 7-2 in favor of the recommendation by the LSO. House Majority Floor Leader Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, and Senate Vice President Dave Kinskey, R-Sheridan, were the two opposing votes.

While the four-page analysis found that portions of the rules were within the scope of statutory authority and legislative intent, such as inserting additional viable documents to prove residency or clarifying descriptions of documents, the main purpose of the rules did not seem to hold up: “For the portion of the rules that purport to establish a requirement for a person to provide proof of residency when registering to vote, the rules do not appear to be within the scope of statutory authority and legislative intent,” the analysis stated. “There do not appear to be any statutory provisions that expressly and unambiguously authorize the promulgation of rules for proof of residency by the Secretary of State, either when registering to vote or before actually voting.”

Instead, the analysis looked to Wyoming statute and how the county clerks are charged with verifying voter registration information and providing for a complete process for establishing and verifying residency qualifications.

Gray provided a four-page explanation of why the rules fell under his purview in his letter to the governor, using examples from both the Wyoming Constitution and Wyoming Election Code.

“In fact, to argue that rules preventing noncitizens and illegal aliens from registering to vote in Wyoming elections is not within the intent of the Wyoming Legislature, as the Legislative Service Office did, is absurd,” he wrote.

“These rules advance election integrity by ensuring that only Wyomingites will be voting in Wyoming elections,” Gray added. “During our public comment period, we received hundreds of comments, which were overwhelmingly in support of the proposed rules.”

He said the LSO ignored “that registration to vote is a quintessential part of the voting process which has historically been a part of the Secretary of State’s rules.”

Gray also cited code allowing his office to prepare written directives and instructions relating to and based on laws and to create rules to maintain uniform voting and vote-counting procedures and orderly voting.

Gray wrote that following the public comment period, “We addressed numerous comments through administrative review, consideration, and response, and amended portions of the rules to address specific concerns of county clerks, namely with respect to the date of implementation and to allow identification including a Wyoming address to constitute adequate proof of Wyoming residency.

“These rules are well-vetted and mature,” he said. "Before simply rubber-stamping LSO’s one-sided analysis, I urge you to undertake your own thorough legal analysis and sign these rules.”

This story was published on April 11, 2024.