Gore: Keep our ballots safe

Submitted by: Susan Gore

Casper Star Tribune - Oct 25, 2019

Wyoming's need for protective elections statutes is more than obvious. Yet on Sept. 19 the Interim Corporations Committee voted down a voter ID bill. How did that happen?

Practice varies across the state. Wyoming election clerks lack legal backup by which to deter non-residents. A person need not have immediate, verifiable proof that he resides in Wyoming or a photo ID to show he is an American citizen at the time the vote is cast. Poll workers face the possibility that a busload of people could drive up to a polling location and out-vote residents who have lives, families and communities in Wyoming.

Moving people around to vote and other takeover tactics have consequences beyond the outcome of a particular election. A New Hampshire friend laments the managed migration from Massachusetts that flipped her state politically and culturally. She misses the farm stands of her childhood, now shut down by regulation.

Well-funded fraud operatives routinely calculate the number of votes needed to flip an election — and for Wyoming those numbers are small. An election fraudster is a sneaky thief who seeks to control decisions that rightfully belong to the people who live in the very communities that are at risk for losing what they have built over the years.

Casper Star-Tribune reporter Nick Reynolds characterized AARP testimony as "compelling" for committee members. But the AARP's notion that retired individuals who are capable of voting are not capable of obtaining a photo ID is anything but compelling, especially since the AARP is willing to let phony votes overpower rightful senior votes. Instead of dragging its feet, the AARP could and should back a Wyoming State Real ID that seniors could use wherever ID is required. Some states provide a state photo ID to seniors turning in a driver's license.

Various states accept driver's licenses, state ID cards, tribal ID cards, U.S. passports, military ID cards, student ID cards, library cards, employer-issued ID, student IDs and concealed carry handgun licenses. Ballotpedia.com is a good source to check for specifics.

It gives one pause to learn that Rep. Tyler Lindholm commented on the "ambiguous" nature of the draft voter ID bill while other committee members worried about loopholes. How is it that the Legislative Services Office (LSO) came to draft an ambiguous bill with loopholes?

Bill sponsors and the LSO team share responsibility to preserve legislative intent. Solid statutes contain exacting legal language. If you can't tell what a law says, you can't obey it or enforce it. Ambiguous language and loopholes are destructive and unacceptable.

Wyoming legislators who will serve during the 2020 session have no excuse should they fail to defend Wyoming's election integrity. Ballots are precious. Self-styled manipulators with big plans, plenty of money and a bag of practiced tricks approach America's 2020 elections. Wyoming is vulnerable and time is short.