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SF 190

Election transparency.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Bo Biteman and 1 co-sponsor

The bill mandates paper ballots by default for in-person voting, with hand counting and other audit-ready procedures to increase election transparency.

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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · SF 190

Summary — SF 190 (2025): Election transparency

Status: Introduced Feb 3, 2025. Passed Wyoming Senate (3rd reading 2/12/2025, vote 29–1–1). Referred in the House to Corporations then Appropriations; placed on House General File; Committee of the Whole (House) did not consider. Fiscal note: $200,000 appropriation to a new Election Recount Account; additional fiscal impact not determined.

Purpose

SF 190 is intended to change Wyoming election procedures to increase what sponsors describe as transparency and auditability. Major goals in the bill are to make paper ballots the default voting method, require documentation of U.S. citizenship for voter registration, adjust election and canvass timing to accommodate manual counting when required, and establish procedures for recounts and audits.

Key provisions

  • Paper ballots as default: Creates a new statutory provision requiring each county to provide paper ballots as the default for in-person voting. Ballots are to be hand-marked by voters and automatically tabulated from the paper record. Counties may provide electronic ballot‑marking devices only for electors who choose to use them (devices must produce a paper ballot).
  • Recounts and audits:
    • Provides for certain recounts to be conducted by hand count (statutory language establishes hand-count recount procedures and changes definitions of “recount” to include hand counts).
    • A proposed post‑election audit provision (processed as an amendment at one point) would have required a random audit and hand-count confirmation of ballots on a minimum percentage or at least one tabulation machine; that amendment failed in committee.
  • Voter registration — proof of U.S. citizenship: Adds a statutory definition of acceptable proof of U.S. citizenship for registration. Acceptable documents listed include:
    • Valid Wyoming driver’s license or Wyoming ID without non‑citizen indication
    • Valid tribal ID issued by recognized Wyoming tribes
    • REAL ID‑compliant state driver’s license/ID
    • U.S. passport
    • Certificate of citizenship or naturalization
    • U.S. military draft record or selective service registration acknowledgement
    • Consular report of birth abroad
    • Original or certified U.S. birth certificate bearing an official seal
  • Absentee ballots and drop boxes: Committee amendments prohibit use of ballot “drop boxes” for absentee ballot collection; absentee ballots must be mailed or hand-delivered to the county clerk or clerk’s staff.
  • Election timing and canvass deadlines: The bill revises primary election and canvass timing (several amendments adjusted deadlines for canvass, registration cutoffs and the number of days for certain procedures — e.g., amendments changed a 14‑day period to 21, 24 or 28 days in various places). These timing changes are intended to allow time for hand counting where required.
  • Administrative changes: Creates an Election Recount Account and appropriates $200,000 from the General Fund to that account.

Who would be affected

  • County clerks and election administrators: implementation of paper‑ballot default, tabulation and new procedures, and handling of absentee ballots without drop boxes.
  • Voters: changes to voting methods (paper ballots), restrictions on drop‑box use, and new registration evidence requirements that will affect new registrants.
  • Voters with disabilities: provisions allow electronic ballot‑marking devices to be available for those who choose or require them, but those devices must produce a paper ballot.
  • Tribal members and others: some acceptable ID provisions explicitly include tribal IDs.
  • State budget: $200,000 initial appropriation; other costs uncertain.

Fiscal and procedural notes

  • Fiscal note: $200,000 appropriation to the created Election Recount Account; additional fiscal/personnel impacts were not determinable at time of note.
  • Legislative status: Bill passed the Senate and was progressed in the House but not considered in House Committee of the Whole as of the latest action. Multiple amendments were offered and some adopted; several amendments failed. Because several timing and procedural provisions were amended at different stages, exact final deadlines and day counts vary across versions and some elements remain subject to change if the bill is further amended.

Caveats / uncertainties

  • Multiple amendments altered timeframes (registration cutoffs, canvass timing) and some audit language was proposed but not adopted. Review of the engrossed/engrossed-as‑amended bill text would be required to confirm final, enforceable statutory language if the bill proceeds.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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