Wyoming Requires Proof of Citizenship, Residency to Vote
Wyoming became the first state to require proof of citizenship and residency to vote in state elections.
***New Hampshire’s law is for first time voters in the state. The Wyoming voters have to prove they have lived in the state for 30 days to vote. Wyoming secretary of state and media have said it is the first state to do this for all elections.
“This was the #1 priority of our conservative election integrity reform agenda, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray wrote on X. “With HB156 becoming law, Wyoming will further advance election integrity, as the only state in the nation to require proof of citizenship for all elections, an important priority of President Trump.”
He also said: “Today marks a pivotal moment for election integrity in Wyoming,” Secretary Gray said in a statement. “Proof of citizenship and proof of residency for registering to vote are both so important. Only United States citizens, and only Wyomingites, should be voting in Wyoming elections. Period. HB 156 makes Wyoming the first state in the nation to apply proof of citizenship for registering to vote for all elections. This was the first priority of our conservative election integrity reform agenda.
The bill went through without Gov. Mark Gordon’s signature.
According to Wyoming rules, a bill does not need his signature:
If any bill sent to the governor is not signed by him and is not within three days (Sundays excepted) it becomes law without his signature unless the legislature by its adjournment, prevent its return within three days. If that occurs, the bill becomes law, unless the governor, within fifteen days after the Legislature adjourns, files his objections to the bill with the secretary of state. Detailed procedures for handling and processing gubernatorial action on enrolled acts are contained in Appendix K. The legislature has taken the position that if the legislature has not adjourned sine die, the chief clerks shall make themselves available for the Governor’s return of the bill to the appropriate house pending the return of the body prior to the expiration of the three-day period. Further, the legislature has not contested the opinion of the attorney general that the constitutional three-day period includes three full twenty-four hour periods commencing at 12:01 a.m. on the day after delivery to the governor’s office.
Gordon wondered if a court would overturn the law because of potential conflict with a federal law prohibiting “durational residency requirements to vote for president or vice president.”
Wyoming’s Constitution demands residency for one year while the bill requires 30 days.
The state allows the following to prove U.S. citizenship (emphasis mine):
- Valid Wyoming license
- Valid driver’s license or ID card from another state
- Valid tribal ID card issued by the governing body of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe or the Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Indian Reservation or any other federally recognized Indian tribe, provided that the identification card does not contain any indication that the person is not a United States citizen
- Valid passport
- Valid certificate of US citizenship
- Valid certificate of naturalization
- Valid US military draft record or a selective service registration acknowledgment card
- Valid birth certificate from another country issued by the US State Department
- Consular report of birth abroad issued by the US State Department
- Original or certified copy of birth certificate in the US bearing an official seal
The valid driver’s license from another state confuses me even though it’s only to show US citizenship.
Then again, the secretary of state will “decide what documents or other proof establishes Wyoming residency” so I’m guessing the person will need those to register to vote.
Gordon also has concerns with some of the other wording:
Plus, he said some wording in the bill concerned him. The new law says someone could get rejected from voting for “any indication” of a problem with voter registration documentation. He said this could be difficult for county clerks to apply since it’s an unclear standard.“Would the presence of a P.O. box on an identification card be sufficient to disqualify a voter? If so, there is at least one high ranking member of the Wyoming Republican Party, and bonafide U.S. citizen, who could be disenfranchised. What about well worn, sunbleached, or wrinkled identification cards?” wrote Gordon. “No doubt, it is up to the voter to make sure all their “papers” are in order before they can vote, but still, I remain concerned that the vagueness of the language in this Act could lead clerks to either err on the side of over-enforcement or under-enforcement.”
Gordon blasted Gray, accusing him “of trying to exceed his authority prior to the passage of the bill.
“Because it is laudable to continuously improve our standards for identification, I am thrilled that this legislation now gives the Secretary of State the authority he was trying to usurp by passing rules he had no authority to pass last spring,” Governor Gordon wrote in a letter. “The will of the Legislature is finally clear on this point. Let us remember, though, it is ultimately essential and core to the workings of both our Wyoming and United States Constitutions that a bona fide citizen be able to vote without undue difficulty, and that right should not be abridged or diminished as a result of measures taken to conduct an election.”
That’s weird because the rules state the governor can file an objection to a bill to the secretary of state within fifteen days after the Legislature adjourns.
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