Governor Gordon issues executive order on election integrity

CASPER, Wyo. — Citing the perceived impacts of federal policy, Governor Mark Gordon issued an Executive Order Thursday aimed at ensuring that no state agency provides non-U.S. citizens with voter registration materials. It also directs those agencies to stand on those principals when dealing with federal agencies and to report any suspected instances of non-resident voting.

“Recognizing the Biden/Harris Administration’s disastrous border policies compel us to do all we can to protect the integrity of our elections, I, alongside fellow Republican Governors, have taken the action afforded to me by the Constitution and the Laws of Wyoming to confirm the security of Wyoming’s elections,” Governor Gordon said in a release on Thursday.

“I remain confident Wyoming’s elections are the most secure in the nation,” Gordon added. “As required by the laws enacted by the legislature, our county clerks are thorough and diligent when determining, investigating and verifying voter citizenship. With this Executive Order, I reaffirm my commitment to that ideal.”

Secretary of State Chuck Gray released a statement in support of the order, but said Gordon was still leaving election integrity measures on the table.

“This statement and executive order do not address in any way the problem he created when he vetoed our rulemaking in April, which would have been the key fix to stop illegal aliens from voting,” Gray wrote. “Wyoming needs proof of residency and citizenship verification for voting to ensure that only Wyomingites are voting in Wyoming elections.

Gordon’s statement referenced a memo to the legislature from the Wyoming County Clerk’s Association seeking clarity on what constitutes a “bona fide” Wyoming resident, as statute defines eligible voters. It also encouraged the legislature to look at what documentation should be required to establish residency when registering to vote.  The association says county clerks experience scrutiny from segments of the public concerned about non-resident, non-citizen voters.

Gordon said he continues to urge the legislature to provide clarity on the definition of the term “bona fide resident.”

Gray and seven other secretaries of state have appealed to the U.S. Supreme court challenging President Joe Biden’s 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting, which directs federal agencies to proactively promote voter registration and election information. The order says that many Americans, especially people of color, have been historically and disproportionately affected by discriminatory policies and other barriers to voting.

Gray called it an “unconstitutional use of executive action to convert federal agencies into vote harvesting operations.”