Equality State News

Wyoming’s new voter ID law that goes into effect July 1 had “very broad support” when signed into law by Gov. Mark Gordon in April, according to attorney Cassandra Craven, who testified on the legality of the legislation for the Wyoming Liberty Group. 

“Chuck Gray (Republican lawmaker from Casper) worked on this for quite a few years before passage,” Craven told Equality State News. “He got stakeholders together from all over the state to get their input on the bill.”

The new law holds for in-person voting only and allows for 11 different types of ID at the polls, including tribal ID and Medicare – the latter of which, Craven said, won support for the bill from the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). Previously in Wyoming, ID was only required to register to vote. 

Craven said that the impetus for the bill was election security, integrity and ensuring that Wyoming kept its status as the “gold standard” for voting laws. It did not stem from voter fraud claims in some states after the November 2020 general elections, she said. 

Wyoming now joins the majority of states that require voter ID at the polls. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures the only states not requiring voter ID are Maine, Oregon, California, Nevada, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Vermont.

A March 2021 survey by pollster Rasmussen Reports showed that the majority of the nation’s voters are on board with Wyoming’s new law: 75% of likely U.S. voters believe identification, such as a driver’s license, should be required before voting. Only 21% opposed the requirement. That's up from 67% in favor, per a Rasmussen poll in Oct. 2018.