Wyoming county clerks rebuff Secretary of State Gray, keep ballot drop boxes

Wyoming counties that used ballot drop boxes in 2022 will employ them again this year, despite Secretary of State Chuck Gray urging local election officials to ditch them ahead of early voting.

Voters in the seven counties that provided drop boxes two years ago — Albany, Carbon, Converse, Fremont, Laramie, Sweetwater and Teton — will have the option to use them again this year to return absentee ballots.

Drop boxes represent a legal, secure and convenient way for voters to deliver their ballots, several county clerks told WyoFile, adding that they made the decision to keep drop boxes in consultation with their local county attorneys.

The boxes allow for rural ranchers and shift workers in the energy industry to safely drop off their ballots outside the operating hours of the clerk’s office, some clerks also said.

“We at Fremont County Elections want all qualified voters to have the choice of how they wish to vote,” Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese wrote WyoFile in an email. “Not all options appeal to all voters, but we hope voters will choose what is best for them and participate in one of our most fundamental rights we have as United States citizens—the right to VOTE!!”

In a letter last month, Gray asked county clerks to ditch ballot drop boxes, and said he was “vehemently opposed to their use” since he does not believe they “represent a safe, secure, or statutory basis for absentee voting.”

The County Clerks’ Association of Wyoming disagreed in a written response, and reiterated that local election officials have the final say over whether to use drop boxes.

Several counties have used ballot drop boxes for years, long before the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election, when they took on controversy — largely thanks to the debunked film “2,000 Mules,” whose distributor recently apologized for and pulled it from its platforms.

The film was a centerpiece of Gray’s campaign two years ago, when he sponsored screenings and told voters that Wyoming had “ tremendous problems ” with its elections. He vowed to ban ballot drop boxes, but has so far been unsuccessful.

Interpretation

Whether Wyoming law permits drop boxes comes down to the interpretation of a section of the election code that defines how to complete and return an absentee ballot.

“Upon receipt, a qualified elector shall mark the ballot and sign the affidavit. The ballot shall then be sealed in the inner ballot envelope and mailed or delivered to the clerk,” according to state statute.

Gray does not interpret that to “authorize delivery of an absentee ballot to an inanimate object, such as an unstaffed ballot drop box,” he wrote in his request to ban them.

The clerks’ association, meanwhile, has long interpreted the language to allow “for the use of a ballot drop box at the discretion of an individual County Clerk,” the organization wrote in its response to Gray.

“Without judicial interpretation or legislative clarity, we continue to hold our interpretation as the same,” the association wrote.

For at least one county clerk, the absence of legislative clarity was a concern — even before Gray sent his letter in June.

“Until the interpretation of ‘delivery to the county clerk’ is clarified, removing our county drop box during absentee voting just takes the issue out of the equation for us here,” Sheridan County Clerk Eda Schunk-Thompson told WyoFile. “And I did make that decision [to remove the drop box] prior to receiving Secretary Gray’s letter, so it was not in reaction to that.”

Otherwise, several clerks said they felt confident about the law thanks to their respective county attorneys.

“I didn’t make this decision in a vacuum,” Converse County Clerk Karen Rimmer said. “I’m comfortable with this decision to use it for the benefit of the voters of Converse County.”

Concerns and benefits

Rimmer said she’s received mixed feedback on drop boxes from voters.

“There are people here with concerns, too. Absolutely,” Rimmer said. “I understand that. They just choose not to use it. Most people with concerns vote at the polls.”

Ultimately, Rimmer said she felt compelled to continue to provide drop boxes.

“We have a lot of shift workers. We have a lot of rural folks. And we have a lot of very rural ranchers. They will use it,” Rimmer said.

Sweetwater County Clerk Cynthia Lane also said her community has a lot of shift workers from the mines that rely on the flexibility of a drop box.

For Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee, the choice to keep ballot drop boxes also came down to a recent change in Wyoming’s election laws.

In 2023, lawmakers voted to shorten the state’s absentee voting period — also known as early voting — from 45 days to 28 days for most voters.

It’s recommended for voters wishing to return their ballot by mail to do so with at least seven days to spare. To be counted, absentee ballots must be received by the county clerk’s office by 7 p.m. on Election Day, according to state law.

“So when you figure that this year, in particular, with the voting early and absentee voting period reduced from 45 to 28 days, you’re knocking off 14 days right there,” Lee said. “That leaves them very little time to get that ballot back to us.”

Providing a ballot drop box, Lee said, will help accommodate voters in light of the shorter window. Lee also said Laramie County recently updated its 24/7 video surveillance of the drop boxes. And like the other counties utilizing drop boxes, Lee said there are several other security measures in place.

“We keep track of everything that’s put in there. It’s entered into the system, so we know by what means a voter returned the ballot, whether it’s by mail, in person to us, or utilizing the drop box,” Lee said. “We watch all that very carefully and check to make sure there’s nothing else in that box.”

Park County did away with its ballot drop box in 2022 after using one in 2020. Clerk Colleen Renner said she had planned to bring it back this year, but construction at the courthouse interfered with those plans.

“In 2022, when I didn’t have it, I had a lot of people come in and say, ‘Why not? It made it so much easier. It was just great,’” Renner said. “So my plan was to use it. But without being able to drive through our parking lot, it just really didn’t seem feasible.”
The primary is Aug. 20. Early voting begins July 23 for most voters .

The post Wyoming county clerks rebuff Secretary of State Gray, keep ballot drop boxes appeared first on WyoFile .