The Wyoming State Canvassing Board certified the results of the primary election on Aug. 28.
The board is chaired by Secretary of State Chuck Gray, and counts among its members Gov. Mark Gordon and Auditor Kristi Racines.
This year’s primary saw unprecedented spending by out-of-state political action committees, “inaccurate” mailers targeting several moderate Republican candidates, legal action relating to those mailers, and disagreements over how voting equipment was tested in Goshen, Laramie and Albany counties by local GOP officials.
Gray and the rest of the board unanimously approved the results, which are now official.
“I want to thank all 23 county clerks, the election judges, poll watchers, all those who volunteered, all Wyomingites that voted,” said Gray. “Voting is a crucial aspect of our Republic, and I think it was a very successful election. We certified the election unanimously.”
The election had the lowest voter turnout since 2016, including in larger counties like Albany and Laramie.
Several races were won by slim majorities.
In House District 62, which covers part of Natrona County, Kevin Campbell won against his opponent by only seven votes, which triggered a recount.
The board also certified the results of three Democratic write-in candidates who will go on to compete in the general election: Larry Alwin in House District 28, Martha Wright in House District 29, and Carmen Whitehead in House District 60.
Towards the end of the meeting, Gray discussed additional changes to Wyoming’s elections that he’d like to see implemented.
“We’re going to continue to work on, I think, removing the drop boxes, which are not allowed in Wyoming state law,” Gray said. “We rescinded the directives that authorized their use, in 2020 we rescinded those explicitly.”
One public comment made at the meeting was made by Marissa Carpio, the policy director of Equality State Policy Center.
She described the changes to the election code that have already been implemented by the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office, like an ID requirement and a new early deadline to declare party affiliation, as “voter suppression.”
Another comment came from Cheyenne resident Susan Graham, a precinct committeewoman for the Laramie County GOP.
“I was able to go to several accuracy and logic presentations by our county clerk, and I found [the] presentations left something to be desired,” said Graham. “These were not real-world tests. These were tests that were conducted such that the vendor … was in control of the creation of not only the hardware, but the software.”
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
