Student Voting Guide | Wyoming

Registration

http://soswy.state.wy.us/Elections/Elections.aspx (registration form available online)

Wyoming has Election Day registration.  The deadline for pre-Election Day registration, however, is 30 days before the election — and Wyoming requires mail-in registrations to be notarized.

Regular in-person and mail-in registration closes 30 days before Election Day.[1] Mail-in registration forms must be received by close of business on that day.  It is somewhat arduous to register by mail and Wyoming law does not permit voter registration drives.[2]  If you register by mail, you must present ID to, and sign your registration form in front of, a notary public or a registration agent.[3]  (Acceptable ID is discussed below in the section on identification requirements.)  The notary public must also sign your registration form.[4]

Wyoming also offers Election Day registration.[5]  If you plan to register on Election Day, you must come to the polls with ID.[6]  (Acceptable ID is discussed below in the section on ID requirements.)  You can also register in-person at a county elections office prior to Election Day, [7] and simultaneously cast an early ballot.[8]  You can do this even after the close of regular registration (which is 30 days before an election).[9]

You may register to vote[10] and vote in a primary election[11] if you will be 18 in the next general election.

Residency

In Wyoming, your residence for voting purposes is your current place of actual habitation, where you currently physically live.[12]  “Residence is the place where a person has a current habitation and to which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention of returning.” [13]  There is no requirement that you intend to remain permanently or indefinitely.  Ultimately, if you come to Wyoming for school and consider it your current actual residence, you are entitled to vote under the law.[14]

The county clerk can investigate your claim of residency if the clerk has reasonable cause to believe that you are not in fact qualified.[15]  In determining whether a voter is a resident, the county clerk may consider a number of factors, including where the voter’s family lives, where the voter works, where the voter’s vehicle is registered, and the residence listed on the voter’s driver’s license.[16]  A voter can prove Wyoming residency by showing her name and address on any form of photo ID or on any current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, or any other government document.[17]  Any person who is denied registration is entitled immediate written notice[18] and an appeal to the local court within 5 days.[19]

At School. Wyoming’s formal residency laws are student-friendly, and students should be able to register and vote without trouble when they have a current intention to make Wyoming their residence.

At Home. Students who lived in Wyoming before moving elsewhere to attend school, and who wish to establish or keep their Wyoming voting residency (i.e., at their parents’ Wyoming address), should have no problem doing so unless they have already registered to vote in another state.  Like all states, Wyoming allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the district to attend school, and the only way you will lose this residency is by establishing residency in a new state.  While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered an abandonment of your Wyoming residency, some judges or officials might view it as such.

Challenges to Residency. Only official poll workers can challenge your eligibility to vote at the polls.[20]  If your eligibility to vote is challenged, you will have to swear an oath and vote by provisional ballot.[21]  Your ballot will only be counted if you prove to the county clerk that you are a valid resident by the close of business on the day following the election.[22]

Identification

Identification is required at the time of registration for those who register by mail or on Election Day.  Additionally, ID is required at the polls or in the absentee ballot of first-time voters who register by mail.

You will have to show ID in order to register to vote in Wyoming.  If you register by mail, you will have to show ID in front of a notary public or registration agent.[23]  If you register at the polls on Election Day, you will have to present ID at that time.[24]  Additionally, if you request an absentee mail-in ballot, and you are voting in your first federal election in Wyoming, you will also have to include a copy of your ID with your absentee ballot.[25]

Wyoming accepts several forms of ID, including a driver’s license from any state, a passport, any other kind of government-issued ID, a student photo ID issued by a Wyoming public institution, or a military ID.[26]  Or, you can present any 2 of the following forms of non-photo ID:  a social security card; a certification of U.S. citizenship; a naturalization certificate; a draft record; an old voter registration card; a certified copy of your birth certificate; or any other form of ID issued by an official agency.[27] 

Absentee Voting

Any voter can vote absentee in Wyoming, and the application and balloting process is fairly easy.  Anyone registered to vote in Wyoming may vote absentee unless he or she  “leaves the state with the intent to make his residence elsewhere . . . [and] has met the residency requirement in his new state of residence.”[28]  You may request an absentee ballot in person, by phone, by mail, or by e-mail.[29]  You can request an absentee ballot up to the day before Election Day.[30]  Your county clerk must receive your completed absentee ballot by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.[31]  Neither your application nor your ballot needs to be witnessed.  First-time voters who register by mail should include a copy of their identification with their absentee ballot.[32]

Early Voting

As a convenience to voters, Wyoming has early voting which begins 40 days before the election and ends on Election Day.[33]  At early voting sites, you can vote any precinct’s ballot for that county.  If you do not consider your school address to be your permanent address, or if you have not changed your residence yet, then early voting provides an opportunity to vote a ballot at the residence from which you are absent.

 

Last Updated in April 2010

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[1] Beginning on January 1, 2011, registration closes 14 days before the election.  Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-102(a) (2010).

[2] See Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 22-3-104; 22-3-103; see also 002-040-016 Wyo. Code. R. § 5 (2010). 

[3] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-103(b).

[4] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-103(b).

[5] See Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-104(f)(ii), (g).

[6] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-104(f)(ii)(A).

[7] 002-040-007 Wyo. Code. R. § 4(c).

[8] 002-040-007 Wyo. Code. R. § 4(d).

[9] 002-040-007 Wyo. Code. R. § 4(d).

[10] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-102(a)(ii).

[11] FairVote, “Voting Age and Registration,” available at http://www.fairvote.org/youth-preregistration-fact-sheet.

[12] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-1-102(xxx).

[13] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-1-102(xxx)(A).

[14] See Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-1-102(xxx)(B)(2); Interview with Lori Klassen, Elections Specialist, Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office (May 14, 2008).

[15] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-105(a).

[16] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-105(d).

[17] 002-040-002 Wyo. Code R. § 6.

[18] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-105(c).

[19] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-105(d).

[20] Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 22-15-104;   22-15-108; 22-15-109(b).

[21] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-15-105(b).

[22] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-15-105(d).

[23] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-117. 

[24] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-118.

[25] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-3-118.

[26] 002-040-002 Wyo. Code R. § 6(a).

[27] 002-040-002 Wyo. Code R. § 6(b).

[28] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-9-102.

[29] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-9-104(a).

[30] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-9-105. 

[31] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-9-118.

[32] Wyo. Stat. Ann. §22-3-118(c). 

[33] Wyoming Secretary of State, Absentee Voting Information available at http://soswy.state.wy.us/Elections/AbsenteeVoting.aspx.