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STATE OF WYOMING
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1HB0232
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0232
Elections-hand counting for recounts.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Haroldson, Allemand, Banks,
Bear, Brady, Erickson, Knapp, Locke, McCann,
Schmid, Strock, Webb and Williams and
Senator(s) Boner, Hutchings, Kolb, Pearson
and Smith, D
A BILL
for
1 AN ACT relating to elections; providing a process for
2 certain recounts to be conducted by hand counting the
3 votes; authorizing the secretary of state and county clerks
4 to require recounts as specified; providing for hand counts
5 to be requested by candidates as specified; specifying the
6 costs of recounts; revising dates of the primary election
7 and the county and state canvass to allow time for hand
8 counting as specified; clarifying when a counting board is
9 required to be appointed; requiring rulemaking; creating an
10 account; making conforming amendments; providing an
11 appropriation; and providing for an effective date.
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2HB02321W.S. 22-1-102(a)(xlii), 22-2-104(b) and
2 (d), 22-8-102, 22-8-108(a), (c), (d) and by creating a new
3 subsection (e), 22-14-114(a), 22-16-103(c)(i), 22-16-109(a)
4 through (c) and by creating new subsections (d) through
5 (g), 22-16-110(a)(intro), 22-16-111(a)(intro), (i), (ii)
6 and (b), 22-16-113(a)(i), (ii), (b) and (c), 22-16-118 and
7 22-21-103 are amended to read:
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11 (a) The definitions contained in this chapter apply
12 to words and phrases used in this Election Code and govern
13 the construction of those words and phrases unless they are
14 specifically modified by the context in which they appear.
15 As used in this Election Code:
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17 (xlii) "Recount" is the
18 processing of ballots through the tabulation
19 system for an additional time or times, conducted for the
20 specific purpose of counting votes again in any specific
21 race, based upon the criteria of W.S. 22-16-109
22through 22-16-113;
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3HB02321
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3 (b) A primary election shall be held at the regular
4 polling places for each precinct on the first Tuesday after
5 the Monday in August in general election years
6 for the nomination of candidates for partisan and
7 nonpartisan offices to be filled at the succeeding general
8 election and for the election of major party precinct
9 committeemen and committeewomen.
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11 (d) Every bond election shall be held on the same day
12 as a primary election or a general election, or on the
13 first Tuesday after the first Monday in May or November, or
14 on the first Tuesday after the
15 August.
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19 Except as otherwise provided by this section, judges of
20 election and members of counting boards shall be registered
21 electors and shall be physically, morally and mentally
22 competent to perform their duties. The county clerk may
23 appoint persons who are at least sixteen (16) years of age 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-0408
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4HB0232
1 to serve as judges of election or members of counting
2 boards if such persons meet all other requirements for
3 qualification of an elector. A judge of election shall not
4 be a member of a counting board at the same election except
5 as provided by W.S. 22-8-108(d) and (e).
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10 (a) Unless ballots are tabulated by electronic voting
11he county clerk shall appoint a counting board
12 for each
13 hundred (300) votes at the last general election, and may
14 appoint a counting board in such a polling place in which
15 one hundred fifty (150) or more such votes were cast at
16 such election. A counting board shall have three (3)
17 members or more to facilitate the counting of votes. No
18 more than one (1) person under the age of eighteen (18) may
19 be appointed as to each counting board.
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21 (c) The counting board
22 has no
23 authority to act until polls are declared closed as 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-0408
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5HB0232
1 provided in W.S. 22-13-117, except as provided in W.S.
2 22-9-125(d). A counting board in an electronic voting
3 system counting center may commence preparing absentee
4 ballots for counting at any time on election day, or before
5 election day as provided in W.S. 22-9-125(d).
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7 (d) For a polling place where a counting board need
8 not be appointed
9 judges of election shall count the votes.
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22 (a) The following shall apply to the counting of
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2 For ballots designed to be counted by
3 machine, each individual vote shall be determined by the
4 voting equipment and shall not be determined subjectively
5 by human tabulation except as provided below:
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7hen the intent of the voter is
8 unmistakable but the ballot was received in such damaged,
9 soiled, or other condition that it is rejected by the
10 machine. The secretary of state may promulgate rules
11 establishing standards for counting such ballots;.
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22 machine, only votes clearly marked, as provided by W.S. 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-0408
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1 22-14-104 and rules promulgated pursuant to this code,
2 shall be tallied;.
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5 misspelled or abbreviated or the use of nicknames of
6 candidates shall be counted for the candidate if the vote
7 is obvious to the board.
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11 (c) The county canvassing board shall:
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13 (i) Meet as soon as all returns have been
14 received and abstracted, but if any provisional ballots
15 have been cast in the county, not before the time has
16 passed for provisional voters to document their eligibility
17 to register or to vote. The board shall meet at a time and
18 place designated by the county clerk, but no later than the
19second Friday following the election;
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8HB02321 (a) The county canvassing board shall make a recount
2 of precinct votes if it appears to the board that a recount
3 is required due to irregularities in that precinct.
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8 (b) here shall be a
9 recount made of all the votes:
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11ast for any
12 office in which the difference in number of
13 votes cast for the winning candidate receiving the least
14 number of votes and the number of votes cast for the losing
15 candidate receiving the greatest number of votes is less
16 than of the number of
17 votes cast for the winning candidate receiving the least
18 number of votes cast for that office . This
19 recount shall be made in the entire district in which the
20 candidates are standing for election .
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5 (c) There shall be a recount made of all the votes
6 cast for any office if a losing candidate requests one
7 under provision of W.S. 22-16-110. This recount shall be
8 made in the entire district in which the candidate is
9 standing for election.
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20 (a) A candidate may obtain a recount of votes for the
21 office he is seeking by making and filing an affidavit
22 alleging that fraud or error occurred in counting,
23 returning or canvassing the votes cast in any part of the 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-0408
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12HB0232
1 district in which he is standing for election.
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5 the same office the candidate filed his application for
6 nomination:
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10 (a) A recount of votes of a ballot proposition may be
11 obtained in one (1) of the following manners :
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13 (i) A recount will be made:
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15f the
16 proposition receives a number of votes, greater or
17 lesser, within one percent (1%) of the number of votes
18 required for passage. The one percent (1%) variance shall
19 be calculated based upon the total number of votes cast on
20 the proposition, except for constitutional amendments in
21 which case the variance shall be calculated based upon the
22 total number of votes cast in the election. This recount
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8 (ii) A recount will be made if requested in an
9 affidavit signed by twenty-five (25) electors registered in
10 a district voting on the question. The affidavit shall be
11 filed with the county clerk not later than two (2) days
12 after the county canvass has been completed for
13 propositions voted on in one (1) county, and with the
14 secretary of state not later than two (2) days after the
15 state canvass has been completed for propositions voted on
16 in more than one (1) county. The affidavit shall be
17 accompanied by a deposit
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22 (b) The county in which the recount is taken shall
23 pay the costs of the recount if the recount is required by 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-0408
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14HB0232
1 (a)(i) of this section; and the
2 signers of the affidavit referred to in
3 (a)(ii) of this section shall be jointly and
4 severally liable for the costs of the recount requested by
5 them
6 recounted if the results of the election are not changed by
7 the recount.
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11 (a) An affidavit requesting a recount must be
12 accompanied by the following deposit:
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15HB0232
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6 (b) If the recount shows sufficient error to change
7 the result of the election, the county in which the recount
8 is taken shall pay expenses of the recount and the deposit
9 shall be returned. Otherwise the applicant or applicants
10 seeking the recount shall be liable for the actual cost of
11 conducting the recount up to a maximum of the amount
12 deposited under subsection (a) of this section, per county
13 recounted. Every county clerk shall issue a complete
14 accounting of all costs of the recount to the candidate
15 requesting the recount, and shall refund any surplus to the
16 candidate.
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6 (c) If the recount is initiated by the
7 county canvassing board
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9 county in which the recount is taken regardless of the
10 result of the recount.
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18 The state canvassing board shall meet no later than the
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20 secretary of state shall send a messenger to obtain
21 official county abstracts not filed in a reasonable length
22 of time. The canvassing board shall meet at the time and
23 place set by the secretary of state. The board shall review 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-0408
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1 the state abstracts prepared by the secretary of state,
2 compare them with the tabulation and materials prepared by
3 the secretary of state, resolve any tie votes, and certify
4 the abstract as the official state canvass.
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9 Each bond question shall be submitted to a vote of the
10 qualified electors of the political subdivision. Every bond
11 election shall be held on the same day as a primary
12 election or a general election, or on the Tuesday next
13 following the first Monday in May or November, or on the
14 Tuesday next following the Monday in August.
15 Not less than one hundred ten (110) days before a bond
16 election, the political subdivision shall provide written
17 notification to the county clerk specifying the date of the
18 election and the bond question. The bond question shall
19 state the purpose of the bonds, the maximum principal
20 amount thereof, the maximum number of years allowed for the
21 indebtedness and the maximum rate of interest to be paid
22 thereon. The secretary of state may promulgate reasonable
23 rules for conducting bond elections where the election is 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-0408
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1 not held at the same time as the general or primary
2 election.
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4W.S. 22-8-108(b) and 22-16-111(c) are
5 repealed.
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7There is appropriated two hundred thousand
8 dollars ($200,000.00) from the general fund to the election
9 recount account under W.S. 22-16-109(g), as created by
10 section 1 of this act.
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12. This act is effective July 1, 2025
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14 (END)