Wyoming Voter ID Bill Passes House, Headed To Senate
A bill that would require Wyoming voters to present identification before casting a ballot easily passed the state House of Representatives on Wednesday and will now advance to the state Senate.
The vote in favor of House Bill 75 was 51-9 in favor.
Opponents of the bill have generally characterized the bill as a solution in search of a problem since even most supporters of the measure don't claim that voter fraud is a big problem in the state. Rep. Andi Clifford [D-Fremont County] argued that it would tend to discourage voter turnout and amounts to voter suppression while not addressing any actual problem in the state
But supporters of the measure argue that while there may not be an extensive history of fraud in Wyoming elections, requiring identification is a good, common-sense step to take to guarantee free and fair elections.
A spokesman for the Wyoming AARP recently told Townsquare Media of Cheyenne that while that organization originally opposed the bill, they were able to work with the bill's primary sponsor, Rep. Chuck Gray [R-Natrona County] to reach compromises that made the bill more acceptable.
Tom Lacock said one such measure was an agreement to accept Medicare Insurance cards as voter ID.
Under the bill, accepted identification would include a driver's license from any U.S. state or territory, a Medicare insurance card, a tribal I.D., a U.S. passport or military card, or a school ID from the University of Wyoming, any Wyoming community college or public school.
A voter ID bill was defeated in 2019 in the Wyoming House by a 30-29 margin. But since this year's measure is co-sponsored by roughly 2/3 of the legislature, it would seem pretty likely to win legislative approval this time around.
Those co-sponsors include Representative(s) Gray, Andrew, Baker, Barlow, Bear, Blackburn, Brown, Burt, Crago, Duncan, Eklund, Eyre, Fortner, Greear, Hallinan, Haroldson, Harshman, Heiner, Hunt, Jennings, Knapp, Laursen, MacGuire, Neiman, Newsome, O'Hearn, Olsen, Ottman, Paxton, Rodriguez-Williams, Romero-Martinez, Simpson, Sommers, Stith, Styvar, Washut, Western, Wharff, Wilson, Winter and Zwonitzer and Senator(s) Biteman, Boner, Bouchard, Dockstader, Driskill, Ellis, French, Hicks, Hutchings, Kinskey, Kost, Nethercott, Schuler, Steinmetz and Wasserburger.