Wyoming sued over new voter registration law

(CN) — A social justice, conservation and labor group on Friday sued the Wyoming secretary of state and county elections officials, arguing that a new state law imposing ID requirements when registering to vote is unconstitutional.

The Equality State Policy Center in its federal suit claims that House Bill 156, which becomes effective July 1, will impose burdensome and unnecessary hurdles, especially for women, Hispanic, youth and low-income people.

“Wyoming has a proud tradition of fair and secure elections, and there is no evidence of non-citizen voting or widespread fraud to justify the harsh new restrictions in HB 156,” said the center’s Executive Director Jenny DeSarro. “This unnecessary law creates significant barriers that will prevent eligible citizens from exercising their constitutional right to vote, particularly young voters, women who changed their names when they married, low-income voters, and Hispanic voters. These hardworking Wyomingites must be allowed to exercise their rights and freedoms at the ballot box.”

The nonprofit is seeking declaratory judgment that the new law’s ID requirements are unconstitutional, as well as preliminary and permanent injunctive relief from its enforcement.

“Like millions of Americans, many Wyomingites do not have or cannot easily access the documents that HB 156 will require for voter registration,” the center argues in the suit. “For many, obtaining acceptable documentation will require navigating a labyrinth of bureaucracy, all with attendant costs and delays, while election day draws nearer.”

The law will require people registering to vote in Wyoming to produce one of the following: a valid state driver’s license or identification card; a valid tribal ID card from a federally recognized tribe; a valid state ID that’s Real ID compliant; a valid U.S. passport, certificate of citizenship or naturalization; a military draft record or selective service registration card; a consular report of birth abroad; or an original or certified copy of a birth certificate.

The center says that the law allows county clerks to reject driver’s licenses, state or tribal ID if there’s an indication the holder isn’t a citizen. However, the law offers no instruction on how to make that determination, and no proof of non-citizenship is needed to reject a potential voter.

“HB 156 adds new burdens and complications to a registration process that is already arduous,” the center writes. “Wyoming has notably low voter registration and turnout compared to most other states. The crisis is particularly acute for young voters whose voter participation rates have sometimes failed to crack even 10% in Wyoming.”

The Equality State, the first state in the nation to enshrine voting rights for women in its state Constitution, had under 63% of eligible residents registered to vote in the November 2022 election. In that election, under 45% of voters cast ballots.

Existing law will only exacerbate this low turnout, as the state cancels someone’s voter registration if they don’t vote in one general election, the center argues.

Some 3.6% or about 21,000 Wyoming’s population was born outside the U.S. Additionally, about half of them are naturalized. Despite this, Secretary of State Chuck Gray lauded the bill’s passage, calling it a victory for election integrity, the center writes.

Governor Mark Gordon, a Republican, allowed the bill to become law without his signature. He issued a letter to Gray explaining his reasons for not signing it, which included what he called an “arbitrary” and “questionable” 30-day waiting period. He noted that federal law forbids a durational residency requirement to vote for president or vice president.

Gordon in his letter called the state’s election integrity and security track record “excellent.”

The center argues that the law will not stop noncitizens from voting, which isn’t an issue. Instead, it will hinder citizens from casting ballots.

“As the experiences of other states show, when [such] laws have been enacted, the result has been to burden and — in tens of thousands of cases — entirely disenfranchise lawful, citizen voters,” the center writes. “There is no reason to expect that the results will be different in Wyoming.”

Gray lambasted the suit in a statement to Courthouse News.

“This lawsuit shows how far the radical Left is willing to go to try to stop election integrity," Gray said. “The far-left’s lawsuit is a meritless attempt to undermine the common-sense election integrity measures Wyomingites want.

“We will fight this lawsuit and the false claims in it. And we will win,” he added.