Equality State News

The vast majority of likely voters agree with Wyoming's new law that requires voters to present an “acceptable” form of ID when voting in person, according to a survey conducted in March by the Rasmussen poll.

In April 2021, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed HB 75 into law. The bill requires all voters in the state to present an "acceptable" form of ID in order to cast a ballot, reports Cowboy State Daily.

The poll found that found that 75% of likely U.S. respondents believe voters should be required to show photo identification such as a driver’s license before being allowed to vote, and 21% oppose such a requirement. That's up from 67% in favor per a Rasmussen poll in October 2018.

Acceptable ID under the Wyoming law includes a valid Wyoming driver's license, U.S. passport or Medicaid or Medicare insurance card. The old law required an ID only when registering to vote.

Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Buchanan recently testified before a Senate committee in support of the legislation after his office helped write the bill.

“You really have every available type of identification to be used in this case, so no one has to feel like there’s an ID they can’t get,” Buchanan said. “One of the important things I emphasized early on this was in no way disenfranchising any voters.”

Wyoming joins Georgia, Florida, Arizona and other states that moved to tighten their election laws after the November 2020 elections where, in the wake of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, critics say voting process changes were rushed in. Some argued that the changes afforded activist groups, such as the Center for Tech and Civic Life, to wage get-out-the-vote campaigns under cover of helping provide safe and secure elections.

A 2020 state-by-state review of voter ID laws by the National Conference of State Legislatures found that 36 states require voters to show some form of ID at the polls. States that don’t require it include Maine, Oregon, California, Nevada, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Vermont.