Title 22, Title 22 — Elections

Delivery of ballots and stamps; breaking of seals. Ballots shall be delivered under seal or otherwise properly secured and a receipt therefor signed by a judge of election shall be filed with the county clerk. Seals shall be broken on the morning of election day by the chief judg…

Supplies for voting machines. (a) When voting machines are used the county clerk shall have an appropriate official deliver to a judge of election in each polling place, before the day of election, the following supplies: (i) The key to each machine sealed in an envelope; (ii) Re…

Procedure for preparing voting machines for use. Before the polls open the judges shall compare ballots on the voting machines with the sample ballots and return sheets to see that they are correct, place the voting machine in a proper position free from obstruction and assure th…

Setting of registering counters. The judges shall see that all registering counters are set at zero (00000) and that the voting machines are in proper condition. If the machine is equipped with a mechanical or photographic printout device, the election board shall determine that …

Certification of voting machines. The judges shall certify that keys are delivered, that numbers on registering counters and seals correspond with those on key envelopes, that counters are set at zero (00000) or counts certified, that ballots are proper and that the machines are …

Examination of ballot box. Before the polls are open, the judges of election shall open and examine the ballot box to determine that it is empty and relock it. The ballot box shall not again be opened until the polls are closed, except when necessitated by operation of the voting…

Poll hours; opening proclamation. Polls shall be open at seven (7:00) a.m. and close at seven (7:00) p.m., local time. A judge of election shall proclaim aloud at seven (7:00) a.m. at the polls that the polls are open.

Preservation of order; privacy of voting booths and machines. (a) Judges of election have the duty and authority to preserve order at the polls by any necessary and suitable means. (b) To protect the privacy of the voter, voting booths and voting machines shall be kept clear of a…

Procedure before elector permitted to vote. (a) Before a qualified elector is permitted to vote an election judge shall record the applicable information as listed in W.S. 22-1-102(a)(xxiii) by his name on the poll list. (i) Repealed By Laws 2005, ch. 110, § 2. (ii) Repealed By L…

Official marking of paper and absentee ballots. Before delivering a paper ballot to an elector a judge of election or county clerk shall initial the ballot. No other identifying marks shall be made on an official ballot. An elector shall cast only one (1) ballot or set of ballots…

Marking and depositing of paper ballots. Upon receiving a paper ballot, an elector shall proceed alone directly to a voting booth and there mark the ballot. The ballot shall then immediately be placed in the ballot box by the elector or judge of election.

Spoiled ballots. An elector spoiling a paper ballot by mistake or accident may receive another ballot by returning the rejected ballot to a judge of election. Spoiled ballots shall immediately be cancelled by a judge of election and delivered with the returns to the county clerk …

Instruction in use of voting machine. Before entering the voting booth, an elector desiring instruction on the use of the machine may summon two (2) judges of different political parties. The judges shall instruct on use of the machine but may not attempt to influence the vote. T…

Entering write-in votes. Write-in votes may be entered on a voting machine in the manner indicated by instructions posted on the voting booth or indicated on the voting machine.

Voting machine malfunction. Voting machines failing to function during voting hours shall be immediately repaired or replaced, as determined by the county clerk or other authority conducting the election.

Persons permitted in voting booth; time limit. (a) Not more than one (1) person may occupy a voting booth at any time, except that any elector who requires assistance to vote because of blindness, disability or inability to read or write may be given assistance by a person of the…

Papers to assist marking permitted. An elector may use a written or printed paper to assist in marking his ballot.

Announcement that polls will close; electors allowed to vote; proclamation of closing. At 6:30 p.m. the judges of election shall announce that the polls will close in thirty (30) minutes. Electors present and waiting to vote at 7:00 p.m. shall be permitted to enter the polls and …

Judges work schedule. At the discretion of the county clerk, election judges may be allowed to work at the polling place on election day for a period of time less than the total amount of time the polls are open provided the polling place has a sufficient number of election judge…

Who may be present after all votes are cast and polls close; making pollbooks agree; counting votes. After all the votes are cast and the polls are officially declared closed, only election judges shall be permitted in a polling place. When all ballots are cast, the machine shall…

Counting in paper ballot precincts; discrepancies. Unless otherwise validated by a canvassing board pursuant to W.S. 22-13-105, ballots not initialed by a judge of election or county clerk shall not be counted. If the number of ballots is not equal to the number of voters entered…

Entry of paper ballot votes. Paper ballots shall be opened by the counting board and every vote for a candidate or ballot proposition shall be entered on a list. A vote which is not clearly marked shall not be tallied for that office or question but votes clearly marked on the re…

Vote tallying in voting machine polling places. (a) In voting machine polling places, the judges of election shall cast all remaining absentee ballots on a voting machine in the manner prescribed by W.S. 22-9-121 and shall lock and seal the voting machines. They shall certify in …

Tabulation of count. The unofficial tabulation indicating the vote by precinct shall immediately be transmitted by the county clerk to the secretary of state. These unofficial tabulations shall be tabulated by the secretary of the state. The secretary of state shall provide proce…

Sealing paper ballots and voting machine records. Paper ballots shall be sealed by the election judges in an envelope after being counted and tallied, unless the ballots are being counted at a central counting center as authorized by W.S. 22-14-114(b). One (1) copy of each voting…

Returning records and returns to clerk. (a) Unless the votes are being counted at a central counting center as authorized by W.S. 22-14-114(b), an election judge or peace officer as defined under W.S. 7-2-101(a)(iv)(A) or (B) and acting under the authority of the county clerk sha…

Return of voting machine keys and supplies. (a) Keys to voting machines shall be returned to the county clerk in an envelope sealed and signed by an election judge and endorsed by an election judge of a different political party affiliation. On this envelope shall be recorded the…

Counting of ballots. (a) For ballots designed to be counted by machine, each individual vote shall be determined by the voting equipment and shall not be determined subjectively by human tabulation except when the intent of the voter is unmistakable but the ballot was received in…

Right to vote may be challenged. Registration is evidence of a person's right to vote at any election, but this right may be challenged at the polls in the manner prescribed by law.

Grounds for challenge. (a) A person offering to vote may be challenged for the following reasons: (i) Not a qualified elector; (ii) Not entitled to vote in the precinct; (iii) Name does not appear on poll list and the person cannot meet the requirements to register at the polls; …

Challenged person may vote; generally. (a) If a person offering to vote is challenged, and the challenge is not resolved in accordance with W.S. 22-15-106, an election judge shall offer the voter a ballot clearly marked "provisional" and which cannot be automatically tabulated. (…

Where name not on poll list. A person challenged on the ground that his name does not appear on the poll list may vote if a judge of election obtains verification from the county clerk that the person is entitled to vote in that election within that county.

Duty of judges to challenge. It is the duty of the judges to challenge electors whenever existence of legal grounds for doing so is known or apparent to the judges.

Poll watchers; certification; qualification; authority; removal. (a) The county chairman of each political party may certify poll watchers prior to the day of the election to serve in each polling place. Not more than one (1) poll watcher from each political party may serve simul…

County canvassing board; compensation. The county canvassing board is the county clerk and two (2) electors of different political parties resident in the county appointed by the county clerk. The two (2) electors shall receive the same compensation as election judges. All canvas…

Abstract of vote; returns not filed. (a) The county clerk shall prepare an abstract of the vote of all precincts in the county following a county primary, special or general election. The abstract shall contain all items required in W.S. 22-16-103(c)(viii). (b) The county clerk s…

County canvass procedures. (a) Prior to the county canvass, the county clerk shall: (i) Examine the poll books, tally sheets, precinct certifications and oaths of election officials; (ii) Summarize the number of votes cast in each precinct for every candidate appearing on the bal…

Tie votes. A tie vote shall be decided at an open meeting by lots cast by the county canvassing board or other authority holding the election, except in elections for members of the state legislature, which shall be determined as provided in W.S.

Write-in candidates. (a) Each write-in candidate nominated at a primary election, who has not previously filed an application for nomination shall accept nomination by filing an application for nomination and paying the filing fee in the office in which he would have been require…

Certified results. The certified results of the county canvass shall be posted in the office of the county clerk and copies made available to interested persons.

Results furnished secretary of state. Immediately upon completion of the county canvass, the county clerk shall notify the secretary of state of the election results. A copy of the county abstract, after being certified by the county canvassing boards, shall immediately be delive…

Recounts. (a) The county canvassing board shall make a recount of precinct votes if it appears to the board that a recount is required due to irregularities in that precinct. (b) There shall be a recount made of all the votes cast for any office in which the difference in number …

How candidate may obtain recount; where affidavit filed. (a) A candidate may obtain a recount of votes for the office he is seeking by making and filing an affidavit alleging that fraud or error occurred in counting, returning or canvassing the votes cast in any part of the distr…

Recount of ballot proposition. (a) A recount of votes of a ballot proposition may be obtained in one (1) of the following manners: (i) A recount will be made if the proposition receives a number of votes, greater or lesser, within one percent (1%) of the number of votes required …

Precincts to be recounted; recount official result. (a) The number of precincts to be recounted shall be as follows: (i) If the recount is requested by a candidate, all precincts in which that candidate was voted upon for that office shall be recounted; (ii) If the recount is req…

Recount deposit; expense of recount. (a) An affidavit requesting a recount must be accompanied by the following deposit: (i) If the difference in number of votes cast as calculated pursuant to W.S. 22-16-109(b) is one percent (1%) or greater but less than five percent (5%), five …

Certificates of election or nomination after recount. When the time within which to request a recount has expired without one being requested, or when a recount has been completed, the county clerk shall immediately prepare and mail certificates of election or nomination to each …

State canvassing board. The state canvassing board is the governor, secretary of state, state auditor and state treasurer.

Statewide abstract; discrepancies with county abstracts. From the unofficial tabulations delivered directly to his office, the secretary of state shall tabulate a statewide abstract by counties of votes for president and vice-president, state officers, justice of the supreme cour…

Content of state abstract. The state abstract of an election shall indicate by county the number of ballots cast by each political party, if known, the total votes cast for each candidate, the names of all write-in candidates receiving a sufficient number of votes to affect the r…