Secretary of State urges clerks not to use drop boxes in 2024 election

CHEYENNE (WNE) — On Wednesday, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray sent a letter to the state’s 23 county clerks explaining why they should not use drop boxes in this year’s election, and also explicitly rescinding directives issued by previous Secretary of State Ed Buchanan in 2020 allowing ballot drop boxes.

“Given the differing interpretations of my predecessors’ support for drop boxes, I want to be unequivocally clear: I do not believe drop boxes represent a safe, secure, or statutory basis for absentee voting,” Gray said in a statement. “For this reason, I believe they should not be used in the 2024 Election and beyond. The plain language of W.S. 22-9-113, which provides that completed absentee ballots be ‘mailed or delivered to the clerk,’ does not allow for unattended ballot drop boxes as a means of delivering absentee ballots to the clerk.

“The strained interpretation only came about during the government’s response to COVID19, and the directives authorizing them are no longer in effect,” Gray said. “As Wyoming Secretary of State, I remain committed to preserving the integrity and confidence in Wyoming’s elections. I remain convinced that the use of unstaffed and unattended ballot drop boxes is not best for our state and lacks statutory authorization, and I am strongly opposed to their use.”

This story was published on June 6, 2024.