Eight election overhaul bills met their demise during the session's opening days.
All were sponsored by the Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee, which studied and debated them throughout the summer and fall. Committee legislation is generally prioritized by electeds, since time and taxpayer money go into crafting and preparing them.
But other election bills from the Joint Management Audit Committee related to alleged misconduct by the Weston County clerk in 2024 have begun to march forward through initial hurdles in the legislative process.
The following election-related corporations committee bills were killed upon introduction on Feb. 9:
- HB 48 Pen and paper ballots
- HB 49 Ballot drop boxes-prohibition
- HB 50 Ballot harvesting-prohibition
- HB 51 Random hand count audits of election results
- HB 53 Poll watchers-polling stations observation
- HB 54 Elections-independent candidate requirements
- SF 29 Elections-acceptable identification revisions
- SF 33 Political parties-county central committees
Among other things, the legislation from the Joint Corporations Committee would’ve banned ballot drop boxes and ballot “harvesting,” required county clerks to randomly audit one precinct after each primary and general election, and required pen and paper ballots to be the default method for recording votes in every county.
That last bill would’ve impacted Laramie County most significantly, since it’s the only county that uses touch-screen voting machines as its default method.
After the bills died, Linda Barton, president of the League of Women Voters of Wyoming, told Wyoming Public Radio (WPR) in the Historic Supreme Court chamber that she was happy about the culling. The league hosted a press conference in opposition to the committee’s slate of election bills on the first day of the budget session.
“ I think that having those bills would've just complicated and hurt Wyoming voters, made it harder for them to vote, and we might have even a lower voter turnout in 2026 as a result of this,” said Barton. “In 2024, the primary elections had a voter turnout of 27%, which was very bad. And we are trying to increase voter education, increase interest in voting.”
Supporters of big changes to Wyoming elections have pointed to the need to enhance transparency in the process and prevent fraud, despite the rarity of documented voter fraud in the state. Legislation in budget sessions needs to earn a two-thirds vote in the chamber of origin to clear introduction.
In a Facebook post on Feb. 9, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, which lists election overhaul legislation as its No. 2 priority for the 2026 budget session, said the killing of election committee bills represented a double standard.
They were referring to the last budget session in 2024, when Freedom Caucus lawmakers voted to kill 13 committee bills on the first day.
At that time, some state lawmakers said killing so many committee bills was a “mistake.”
“For years, Insiders have treated committee bills as untouchable,” the caucus’s Facebook post stated. “Today, RINOs and Dems teamed up to kill common sense election integrity bills sponsored by the now-conservative Corps Committee. Turns out they never really cared about the bills being committee bills- they're just leftists.”
WPR estimates that between official members, endorsees and allies, the Freedom Caucus has about 34 seats in the House. That’s well short of the 42 votes every bill needs to pass introduction.
Other election bills move forward
But other bills that would change the way the state runs its elections are proceeding through the state Capitol building.
One such bill would allow voters to recall locally elected officials, like mayors and town council members, so long as 25% of that official’s constituents sign a petition demanding a new election.
The sponsor of the bill, Freedom Caucus member Rep. Scott Heiner (R-Green River), said that state law doesn’t have a provision that allows voters to demand recalls for officials in cities and towns specifically.
“Here in Wyoming, all of our municipalities and mayors have town councils and mayors that have elected government,” said Heiner at a meeting of the House Minerals Committee on Feb. 11. “So if there’s an issue with any of these electeds, there’s nothing they can do to recall those.”
The bill also requires voters bringing a petition to recall an elected official to sign a statement describing why a recall is necessary. It passed the minerals committee by a vote of 8 to 1 and was forwarded to the full House for further review.
Weston County clerk-related bills move forward
This bill would place new requirements on county clerks’ post-election ballot audits. Post-election ballot audits are an analysis of a county’s unofficial election results. The bill would mandate that clerks keep a record of their discussions around these audits. It also requires that clerks notify local party leaders of the time and place of the audit and mandates that two qualified electors from different parties be present for the audit.
This bill was crafted by the Joint Management Audit Committee in the wake of alleged irregularities and malfeasance committed by Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock in the 2024 general election.
It passed out of the House Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources Committee on Feb. 10 with unanimous approval and was forwarded to the full House for further review.
This bill specifies that submitting a false post-election ballot audit constitutes falsifying election documents. It was crafted by the Joint Management Audit Committee and also stems from the Weston County incident.
It passed out of the House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee on Feb. 11 with unanimous approval and was forwarded to the full House for further review.
This bill increases the penalty for Wyomingites who disobey a legislative subpoena from no more than $100 to $750. The bill is related to Weston County Clerk Hadlock’s decision to not appear before the Management Audit Committee after being subpoenaed for her conduct in the 2024 election. Lawmakers wanted Hadlock to testify on ballot misprints in three 2024 races, which led to hand recounts.
Hadlock sent legislators a letter in September 2025 in which she told lawmakers she would ask members of the county’s hand count committee to attend and give testimony in her stead.
The subpoena bill passed out of the House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee on Feb. 11 with unanimous approval. It now heads to the full House for more discussion.
Another one
This bill would institute hand counts as a method for recounting elections in several specific scenarios. Under the bill, hand recounts could happen automatically if the difference between the number of votes two candidates received in an election falls within a certain percentage. Candidates could also request hand recounts, and finally, the secretary of state or the county canvassing board could request them as well.
Some county clerks in the state previously told WPR that humans counting ballots instead of machines can actually lead to more errors, not less.
“This is probably one of the most vetted election bills this session,” testified Secretary of State Chuck Gray, a founding member of the Freedom Caucus.
The bill passed out of the House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee on Feb. 11 by a vote of 8 to 1. It now heads to the full House for more discussion.
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.
