A new election law is tripping up some voters in Wyoming. Registered voters needed to declare party affiliation back in May to vote the ballot of their choice in the primary election on Aug. 20.
“Everything ran very smoothly,” according to voter Ann Fitzgerald of Laramie. “The only thing I was frustrated with, that put a damper on it for me, is last year I changed parties in order to be able to vote for Liz Cheney against [Harriet] Hageman. Then I forgot to change parties back and I missed the deadline.
“However, in voting for city council, that doesn't count because it's nonpartisan. In some ways, my vote for things like senator doesn't count as a Democrat in Wyoming. I don't always feel like it matters on the federal level or even on the state level.”
Another voter in Laramie, Amber, agreed. “I'm just a little frustrated that we weren't allowed to change our party affiliation,” she said. “Previously, with the election, with the presidency, and this year, I'd like to switch back to my previous party affiliation and wasn't able to. So it was a little frustrating to not be able to register with the candidates I'd like to.
“I ended up using the write-in ballot as an option to still vote for the ones that I had wanted to. I always like to vote. I think it's my chance to have a voice. With that frustration, I was able to work the system by writing in people and that I still wanted to. So I still feel good that I was able to vote today.”
Last year, Wyoming lawmakers passed a bill that made so-called crossover voting harder by restricting how close to an election voters can change their party affiliation. Voters now have to change their affiliation before candidates file to run for office. This year, that day fell on May 15. For the general election, voters must change parties 14 days before. This is the first election since the law was passed.
In Jackson, Chuck Harris also bumped into this issue.
“I feel like I'm constrained a little bit. I'm registered as a Republican. I didn't get around to changing my registration before May 15. That goofy new law kept me from voting for Democrats today. And normally, I could switch parties at [the] election station, and I can't today, so I didn't have much to vote on,” Harris said.
“I knew that it was coming up. It was just poor planning in early May before anybody had actually announced. I think it's a goofy law to restrict that.”
Wyoming voters will be able to vote for their candidate of choice – regardless of party affiliation – in the general election in November.
