Park County will not debut new electronic poll books for the 2024 elections and will continue to only use paper records.

Earlier this month, the Park County Clerk’s office asked the county commissioners to provide nearly $60,000 to implement e-poll books. Elections staff using the electronic system in addition to the paper books would streamline the registration process on Election Day and make the voter rolls more secure, but the proposal drew some opposition.

At a March 19 meeting, Commissioner Scott Mangold suggested the county could try out e-poll books at the county’s three largest polling locations — the Cody Auditorium, the Cody Rec Center and Heart Mountain Hall in Powell. However, Mangold’s proposal to grant roughly $38,000 died for lack of a second and no other motion was made.

The decision to effectively reject e-poll books was met favorably by a handful of Park County GOP leaders in attendance, including Sen. Dan Laursen (R-Powell). He said after the meeting that commissioners had made the right decision.

During last week’s meeting, Secretary of State Chuck Gray sent an email to commissioners emphasizing that e-poll books were authorized by the Legislature before he took office.

"I have expressed numerous times to the county clerks my concerns with the e-poll book system leading to polling place consolidation and also the connectivity issues,” Gray said.

Clerk Colleen Renner said Gray had not reached out to her about his concerns with the e-poll books. As part of their pitch to commissioners, Renner’s elections staff said it could help prevent ineligible voters from casting ballots on Election Day.

Responding to a question by Commissioner Lloyd Thiel as to the need of the program, First Deputy Clerk Hans Odde said that while it's rare, there have been incidents of felons voting in Park County. Fremont County caught three with the program in the 2022 general election, Odde said.

While Odde said felons are caught eventually, it’s after their vote has been counted.

“We hear all the time, even one bad vote is a bad vote,” he said.

Odde reiterated the department’s contention that the program would improve election integrity and efficiency at the polling locations.

After Mangold’s motion died, Commissioner Scott Steward said he hoped the elections department continued to look into e-poll books.

“I think it’s worth continuing to pursue and investigate,” he said. “Pursue with more research.”