An elections organization in Wyoming sued the secretary of state and every county’s clerk on May 9 to overturn a new law that requires proof of U.S. citizenship and state residency to register to vote.
Equality State Policy Center, a nonpartisan group that advocates for transparency in government, filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District of Wyoming against the residency requirement, HB 156.
That bill was a plank in Secretary of State Chuck Gray’s policy agenda heading into the last legislative session. It also had the support of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, of which Gray is a founding member.
“This lawsuit shows how far the radical Left is willing to go to try to stop election integrity," Gray wrote in a press release after the lawsuit was filed.
"The far-left’s lawsuit is a meritless attempt to undermine the common-sense election integrity measures Wyomingites want," he said. "Proof of citizenship and proof of residency are common sense measures pivotal to election integrity, which is why house Bill 156 was the number one priority of our conservative election integrity agenda during the 2025 Legislative Session. I will be preparing to vigorously defend Wyoming’s proof of citizenship and residency requirements. We will fight this lawsuit and the false claims in it. And we will win.”
The complaint says the new law “will impose new, burdensome, and entirely unnecessary requirements that will make it harder for eligible citizens to vote.”
The court filing also says women voters, as well as Hispanic, young and low-income residents, are likely to be the most adversely impacted by the requirement.
That’s because, according to the filing found on the website Democracy Docket, those groups are less likely to have the documentation to prove residency.
The law that’s being litigated says voters must have lived in the state for 30 days for residency.
It also says a county clerk can reject someone's registration due to “any indication” that the person is not a U.S. citizen or Wyoming resident.
The executive director of Equality State Policy Center declined to comment on their case when Wyoming Public Radio reached out.
In an interview with WPR weeks before the lawsuit, Gov. Mark Gordon expressed ambivalence about whether the residency requirement would pass legal muster if it was sued. He previously let the bill pass into law without his signature, referencing worries about discrepancies between the law and the Wyoming Constitution. For example, the constitution defines residency as one year while the law only requires 30 days.
“There is a statute that has a duration requirement,” Gordon said on April 10. “I think it's been tested in a few states. It may stand up, I don't know. And I'll just say, overall, I think there was less regard for the Constitution this year. [There was] more regard by particularly some of the new, more ideologic legislators, to push a national agenda or model legislation that's been drafted somewhere else, without regard to the Wyoming Constitution. And in some cases, [I was] questioning whether the federal Constitution even applied.”
The law comes as the state Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee met in Lander this week and greenlit study of at least 10 election integrity bills during the off season. County clerks and the Heritage Foundation, a conservative advocacy think tank, indicate that documented voter fraud in the state is rare.
HB 156 is set to go into effect on July 1 unless a federal judge blocks it.
The secretary of state’s office is in the process of updating election procedures to incorporate the new law. Public comment will be accepted through June 20.
Public comments can be submitted by email to Joe.Rubino1@wyo.gov. There’ll also be a hearing on June 4 at 3 p.m. at the Capitol Extension Conference Center in Cheyenne and remotely on Zoom. Register for the remote option here.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
