Wyoming lawmakers advance voter ID bill despite fraud doubts

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A Wyoming legislative committee advanced legislation Wednesday to require voters to present identification at the polls despite some who questioned whether the bill is necessary.

Nobody on the House Corporations Committee or those who testified on the bill - including Secretary of State Ed Buchanan, who oversees elections in Wyoming and testified before the House Corporations Committee - said voter fraud is a problem in the state.

Rather, they described the bill as needed to prevent any future problems.

"This is a best practices issue, creating an environment where it's difficult to commit fraud," said Rep. Chuck Gray, a Republican from Casper and one of 56 cosponsors of the legislation. "It's about Wyoming being the gold standard on the issue."

The bill, Gray told the committee, would boost public confidence in Wyoming's elections. Others said it would do just the opposite.

The legislation promotes a "false narrative" that elections aren't secure, Marguerite Herman with the League of Women Voters told the committee in a Zoom meeting.

"There is no evidence of pervasive voter impersonation that would be remedied by presenting voter ID at the polls," Herman said. "The premise of the bill at all is shaky at best."

The bill cleared the committee on a 6-3 vote. Republicans in other states including Arkansas, where lawmakers approved a voter ID bill Wednesday, are pursuing similar measures following President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claims that he would have won re-election were it not for fraud.

Wyoming already requires voters to present an acceptable form of ID when registering to vote. The bill would require them to do so again at the polls with a driver's license; Medicare insurance card; U.S. passport; or state, tribal, U.S. military or college identification card.

"It's a proactive piece of legislation. Although it's been pointed out we don't see a lot of fraud in the state of Wyoming, we're very lucky to live where we live. Our small population and having those personal relationships has prevented a great deal of fraud," Buchanan, a Republican, said in support of the bill.

Buchanan didn't say whether he believed that states with larger populations and fewer personal relationships than Wyoming had a lot of voter fraud but election monitors have said the 2020 election went smoothly with no more than the usual minor hiccups.

Wyoming shouldn't wait for problems with voter fraud to arise, said Cassie Craven, a lobbyist with the right-wing Wyoming Liberty Group.

"Registering to vote is not supposed to be an easy task. It's supposed to be a secure task," Craven testified.

By adding a requirement to vote while lending credence to "unsubstantiated claims and outright lies about elections," the bill would discourage people from turning out to vote, said Chris Merrill with the left-leaning Equality State Policy Center.

"That's the truly dangerous thing that's going on these days with regard to elections," Merrill said.

With half of all state senators and more than two-thirds of state representatives cosponsoring the bill, its chances of passing the Republican-dominated Wyoming Legislature are high.