Retired, rural voters in the Cody area are concerned about rising property taxes and the high cost of living. Wyoming Public Radio’s Olivia Weitz spoke with a handful of voters at a polling place at the Paul Stock Aquatic and Recreation Center about the issues that matter to them and how the voting process went on primary election day.

Editor's Note: This story has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

John Tanaka: We live just outside of Cody, and I'm retired from the University of Wyoming. The process here is pretty easy. Since we voted last time we were on the rolls, so we didn't have to re-register.

I really like [U.S. Senator] John Barrasso (R-WY). I've known him personally through work and like what he's done. I think he's not real extreme one way or the other.

I hope they [representatives] all focus on property taxes because our property taxes have doubled in the last three years and makes it a little harder when you're retired. The income stays the same, but taxes go up. It's not impacting us a whole lot; we can afford the increase. It just means we can't do other fun things with our time.

Donald Ciskie: I'm Donald Ciskie out on a Screaming Eagle Drive.

Olivia Weitz: Are there any issues that you feel passionate about or that you're hoping that your statewide representatives and senators in Wyoming address or look at?

DC: Well, our energy thing, because of course electricity rates have gone up so dang much and because I'm on social security, and I'm limited on what I can spend, so that really affects my life.

My daughter and her husband moved back here from Corpus Christi, Texas and sold their house -- came up here. They spent a year up here. That's when it [housing] went up in price because the people bidding out all these houses and that. They couldn't afford to live here. They had a good job or her husband had a good job. She did her own job and they had to move back. They just finally bought another house in Corpus Christi for $170,000.

See, the reason my daughter and her husband moved away in the first place is because Cody doesn't offer much for jobs. It's tourists and ranchers and such. If we had more jobs around here for people to stay or they could stay with their families, and that's pretty dang important.

Rita Mainini: I'm retired, [I] live in Cody.

OW: Were there any candidates that you were excited about voting for or issues that really brought you out to the polls today?

RM: Yes, I voted for candidates that would have a biblical worldview. I just believe that they would do the right thing when they're in office and not stray from what they're supposed to do for the people.

OW: What do you mean by biblical worldview? What does that mean to you?

RM: Just pro-life for number one. If any candidate is pro-life, then that tells me a lot about that candidate.

OW: Anything that you're hoping at the state level that they address that will impact you or your community?

RM: Yes. We had the abortion bill that went into law a couple years ago and it's still not into effect. So I hope that things can be done so that would be going into effect in the state of Wyoming.

Lloyd Watkins: I'm a Cody resident and recently retired. I live in Cody, north of the airport.

OW: And how does it feel to vote today?

LW: Ah, it feels like an American. That's one of the great privileges we have, right, is to select who represents us and who makes the laws that we live under.

I wish there was more information available about them [candidates] or even more opportunity to ask some questions, whether in person or some other electronic format, because you really should be an informed voter.

My really biggest voting issues are national debt and spending, which is just insane as far as I'm concerned. The other thing is property taxes. Not just that, ‘Oh, they're too high,’ but where's all the money going? What's being done with it? And I would like to see, I know there's a lot of reform measures and ideas out there for property taxes, but I would like to see some of this stuff put aside and let it build upon its own wealth. And then there be some sort of annual formula that if the government has plenty of money to run on, then people's property taxes for that year should be reduced by whatever that percentage is in that formula. I think there's some solutions out there that I haven't heard that would really benefit the people.

Mark Harvey: I'm a retired cowboy.

OW: I'm excited to talk to a former cowboy. Awesome. Where do you live now, Mark?

MH: Well, my home's Cody. We got a place in Thermopolis. We're both in our seventies.

There is a great debate in there [the polling place] whether I should vote or whether I shouldn't vote. I had people telling me, “Yeah, you can vote.”

Then the next minute “No, you can't vote.” So the elections officer had to get a hold of Cheyenne and find out if I could vote or not. Well, the damn thing is I couldn't.

OW: Why is that?

MH: Well, because I'm unaffiliated and you can only vote if you're Republican or a Democrat. I just think it's a sorry state of affairs when a guy who's been a hired hand in Wyoming his whole life can't vote. There's something wrong with that.