Dear editor:

Wow is all I can say about a recent letter to the editor, penned by Phyllis Roseberry, chair, Wyoming Rising. She was correct on some statements and maybe not telling the whole story on other statements.  

Yes this topic was brought up at a Park County Commissioner’s meeting in 2022. And yes the Wyoming  Attorney General opined an opinion. And yes the opinion was that ballots intended to be counted by a machine could not be counted by humans, I agree with that opinion. Here is the complete statute, only part of it was chosen to be addressed by the AG.

22-14-114: Counting of ballots. (a) For ballots designed to be counted by machine, each individual vote shall be determined by the voting equipment and shall not be determined subjectively by human tabulation except  when … The secretary of state may promulgate rules establishing standards for counting such ballots. For ballots not designed to be counted by machine, only votes clearly marked, as provided by w.s. 22-14-104 and rules promulgated pursuant to this code, shall be tallied …

The question commissioners asked was if ballots designed to be counted by machines be counted by humans. It was thought then that “how could it be bad to count the ballots from the 2020 election, or at least a precinct or two?” Not a bad idea but it is illegal, I am not arguing that.

Dave McMillan and I were showing the Commissioners at the Feb. 6 meeting the Wyoming Statutes on elections, where in at least 23 places there is reference to “member of a counting board” and that counting board is in conjunction with paper ballots, printed to be counted by humans. There are also two statutes allowing the commissioners to make a choice if Voting Machines (Chapter 10) or Electronic Voting Systems (Chapter 11) will be used at all, or will the counting of votes be by humans counting ballots which were printed to be counted by humans.

Here are the specific statutes: 22-10-102: Selection by county commissioners. The board of county commissioners may adopt for use in any precinct in the county a type of voting machine meeting the standards specified in w.s. 22-10-101. 

And 22-11-102: Use authorized; purchase or lease. The board of county commissioners of each county may adopt for use, either experimentally or permanently, in any election in any or all polling places within the county, any electronic voting system authorized by law.

If the intent of the law was to require a “voting machine” or a “electronic voting system” to be used, the word “shall” would have been used instead of “may.”

In statute 22-8-108: Appointment, composition and authority of counting boards; when judges to count. This statute tells the county clerk how many members of the counting board are required in relation to the number of ballots cast at the last general election.

So if you want humans to count your ballot, contact the county commissioners and let them know, they think the majority of people want machines to count the ballots.

Sen. Dan Laursen

(R-Powell)