Release from Secretary of States Office:
Cheyenne, WY – The Secretary of State’s Office is reminding voters that they can remain confident in the safety, accuracy and fairness of Wyoming elections. Secretary Buchanan is encouraging voters to register and cast their ballots on Primary Election Day, Tuesday, August 18th, 2020. Polls open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. Voters are encouraged to visit www.letsvotewyo.org for information on the 2020 Election and to find their polling location.
“Working with state health officials, we have made polling locations safe. The election process remains secure as ever. COVID-19 should not deter any Wyoming voter from casting their ballot next Tuesday. Wyoming voters alone will decide the outcome of Wyoming’s Primary Election. I can assure voters that their vote will be counted accurately and with integrity by election professionals. My team has worked tirelessly over the preceding month with Wyoming’s county clerks to bring extensive safety measures to the polls, while integrating new election equipment statewide. Over many years we have established the very best standards and procedures for secure elections beginning to end,” said Secretary of State Edward Buchanan.
The reasons Wyoming’s elections are safe and secure include:
- Surfaces, including voting booths and election equipment, will be cleaned frequently and thoroughly. Pens and styluses used for marking ballots will all be single-use.
- Space markers on the floor will indicate where voters should stand. The space between voters might make lines look longer. Lines will move at a steady pace with a flow designed to minimize physical contact and maximize privacy.
- Poll workers and election judges will be provided with gloves, masks, and stationed behind plexiglass barriers.
- Voters are encouraged to wear face coverings.
- Wyoming voting systems are never connected to the internet and thus cannot be hacked or subject to cyber threats.
- Each polling place reconciles the number of votes cast to guarantee that the number of people who checked into the polling place matches the number of ballots
- Every voting system that is used in an election is tested publicly for 100% ballot tabulation accuracy before being used in any Once tested, the ballot counter is immediately locked, sealed, and guarded through Election Day.
- Each ballot can be verified by a paper audit trail that can be used to confirm the accuracy of every single vote. In order to maintain the secrecy of each person’s vote, this audit trail does not associate any ballot with the voter that cast it.
- Wyoming’s 23 county clerks work with well trained and experienced citizen election judges and poll workers who manage and monitor each polling place to ensure that the voting environment is efficient, clean, and free of obstructions and distractions for the
- All voters must attest that they are citizens and eligible to vote. Wyoming’s voter registration system interfaces with data from the Wyoming Departments of Transportation, Health, Corrections, and the Division of Criminal Investigation to prevent voter fraud, such as votes cast by deceased persons. If voter fraud were to ever occur, those individuals would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
- Absentee ballots are verified against that person’s voter registration file.
“We are confident in the election process. Wyoming’s new state-of-the-art election equipment will serve voters well this election and offer a secure and familiar voting experience. County clerks follow every election process as outlined by Wyoming law to guarantee accurate counts of votes,” said State Election Director Kai Schon. “Unofficial results will be updated on the Secretary of State’s website on election night and the day after. Final and official election results, however, will be certified upon the meeting of the State Canvassing Board on August 26th.”