CHEYENNE – The House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee on Thursday, Jan. 26, voted down a bill to require voters to show photo identification at the polls.
But it advanced bills concerning a system for permanent absentee ballots, election recounts and the date at which an absentee ballot must be accepted.
Voter ID
Committee members voted down a voter ID bill that was brought by committee member Rep. Lars Lone, R-Cheyenne.
Lone said he was given a ballot for an incorrect precinct when he went to vote and said if he had been required to show identification, that situation could have been avoided. Lone said he was not bringing the bill because of voter fraud concerns.
However, questions were raised about the effectiveness of voter ID laws, how absentee voters would need to prove identity and disenfranchisement of voters who may not have a government photo identification.
County clerks said voter fraud is extremely rare and didn’t know how having to show identification would have fixed Lone’s situation.
Several people, including Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett, said the bill could be an issue for elderly voters, some of whom have never had a photo identification.
Lee Filer, a former Democratic representative who ran against Lone in the 2016 general election, used the example of a senior citizen home in his district.
“About 60 percent of the people who live there – most of them haven’t had an ID in 10 years,” he said. “My grandmother never had a state ID ever.”
Albany County Clerk Jackie Gonzales said human error does happen among poll workers, like marking the wrong person as having voted, but her office always tries to resolve disputes. People can also cast a provisional ballot when a dispute exists.
Gonzales also said no county in Wyoming requires identification at the polls as long as a voter is already registered, which contradicted a statement made by Lone that there is a patchwork of voter ID laws in Wyoming counties.
Representatives of the League of Women Voters, the Equality State Policy Center and the American Civil Liberties Union also spoke against the bill.
