Wyoming leaders aren’t finished looking into election irregularities stemming from a Weston County official’s local handling of the 2024 general election.
On July 9, lawmakers on the interim Joint Management Audit Committee voted to create a panel that will look into ballot misprints in three Weston County races, including House Speaker Rep. Chip Neiman (R-Hulett). He was running unopposed.
The subcommittee will write a report, described as a “findings of fact,” summarizing what changes might be needed to Wyoming’s election laws. The subcommittee will be composed of members of the Management Audit Committee.
Legislators left the door open on giving the subcommittee the power to subpoena witnesses like Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock to testify publicly about their conduct. The subcommittee was established by a majority of committee members through a voice vote.
“It is not a witch hunt,” said committee Chair Rep. Christopher Knapp (R-Gillette), the vice chair of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. “We're [not] trying to go backwards in time. But it is moving forward to see where our statutes broke down. This was a serious, serious issue. And I think that we owe it to those constituents and the voters of Wyoming to look at this and say, ‘What statutes were in play? What statutes maybe didn't get carried out properly?’”
Hadlock did not respond to a request for comment from Wyoming Public Radio by press time. One resident of Weston County previously told WPR that the uproar over Hadlock’s actions has been politicized and is an example of the election system catching errors before the state finalized them.
“ There appears to be a number of people in the county Republican committee that essentially have got it out for Becky,” said Doug Jorrey, a retiree in Newcastle and Republican who served on Hadlock’s county canvassing board.
In December 2024, nine qualified electors and local Republican Party officials in Weston County submitted a verified complaint to the governor seeking Hadlock’s removal for misconduct and malfeasance in office.
There were four specific actions of Hadlock’s outlined in the complaint, including mishandling election ballots by ordering and using multiple ballot versions in the general election.
But Gov. Mark Gordon later determined he was unable to find “misconduct or malfeasance” in Hadlock’s methods despite her “serious mistakes,” something that disappointed members of the Freedom Caucus.
Secretary of State Chuck Gray in a press release after Gordon’s decision expressed concern about the governor’s “lies by omission” when Gordon failed to mention the post-election audit Hadlock submitted. Gray released his own investigation into Hadlock on March 10 and called for her removal from office.
At the committee meeting, Gray said it was troubling that Hadlock hadn’t given her side of the story yet.
“We would invite the Weston County clerk to respond, but that has not occurred, and the governor acknowledged that in his findings that she had not responded to any request to explain herself,” he said.
Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams (R-Cody), who chairs the Freedom Caucus, made the motion to establish the subcommittee after Gray finished speaking. It was seconded by Sen. Bob Ide (R-Casper).
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.
