AN ACT relating to elections; providing for the hand counting of ballots; establishing statewide standards related to the handling and counting of ballots; providing for the reconciling of ballot numbers; prohibiting the use of voting machines for casting or tabulating ballots; providing duties for county clerks and the secretary of state; revising requirements for the post-election ballot audit; requiring rulemaking; revising offenses related to elections; providing penalties; making conforming amendments; repealing conflicting provisions; making legislative findings; specifying applicability; and providing for an effective date.
HB0094 would overhaul Wyoming election administration by requiring all votes to be cast on paper ballots that are manually counted in public view under statewide standards set by the secretary of state. The bill directs the secretary of state to adopt rules for ballot design, chain of custody, counting teams, reconciliation, training, public observation, and recounts, and it requires use of the USCase.org “Gold Standard Elections” white paper guidelines in rulemaking. It also mandates extensive documentation, video and audio recording of counting activities, public posting of certain records, and separate handling of absentee, early, provisional, and early-voting ballots.
The bill would also prohibit the use of electronic voting equipment for casting or tabulating ballots, including tabulators, scanners, and e-pollbooks, while allowing only limited use of accessible voting devices to produce a human-readable paper ballot. It revises numerous provisions of the Wyoming Election Code to conform to a manual-count system, including definitions, polling-place procedures, absentee ballot handling, recounts, audits, canvassing, and election offenses. It creates new penalties for violations, including misdemeanor liability for election officials who knowingly violate the act and felony treatment for certain official misconduct involving hand-count procedures or tally records, and it repeals multiple existing provisions tied to electronic voting systems and related processes.
If enacted, HB0094 would substantially rewrite Wyoming election law by replacing electronic tabulation and related infrastructure with a statewide hand-count system for all elections after January 1, 2026. It would shift major responsibilities to county clerks and the secretary of state for manual counting standards, ballot reconciliation, public observation, training, recordkeeping, and post-election audits, while repealing or amending many statutes that currently reference voting machines, electronic pollbooks, scanners, and machine tabulation. The bill would also expand criminal and civil enforcement related to election administration and ballot handling, affecting county election officials, canvassing boards, poll watchers, and voters using absentee, early, provisional, or accessible voting methods.
The bill appears to have been driven by concerns about election transparency, security, and public confidence, as reflected in its legislative findings and its emphasis on public hand counting, observation, and auditability. However, the voting history shows it failed introduction in the House by a close margin, 32-30, indicating significant but not majority support. No committee transcript was provided, so the available record suggests the proposal was controversial and did not advance beyond initial consideration.
The main points of contention are likely the bill’s elimination of electronic voting equipment and e-pollbooks, the feasibility and cost of statewide hand counting, and the operational burden placed on counties and election workers. Supporters would likely argue that manual counting increases transparency, verifiability, and voter trust, while opponents would likely raise concerns about accuracy, speed, staffing, accessibility, and the risk of delays or human error. The bill also creates strict penalties for officials and requires extensive public access to election processes and records, which could be viewed either as accountability measures or as burdensome and potentially disruptive requirements.