The House Corporations Committee voted six to three to move HB75 forward today.  Rep. Chuck Gray, R, sponsored the bill requiring photo identification to cast an in-person vote and bring HB75 to the floor.

The bill is aimed at identifying what forms of identification can be used to cast an in-person ballot.  Three amendments to the bill were introduced by the County Clerk’s Association, Mary Lankford, to broaden the scope of acceptable forms of identification.  These amendments would allow for all federally recognized tribal IDs, out-of-state driver’s licenses and government-issued Medicare IDs to be accepted.  The addition of Medicare ID’s id the one ID that does not have a photo.  As a compromise to help Wyoming’s older voters, who might not have a photo ID, the photoless Medicare ID will be allowed until 2030.  Secretary of State Ed Buchanan voiced his support of the bill and the amendments.

An initial question asked by Rep. Danny Eyre, R, is if the photo ID requirement would cause less participation in voting.

“I think it is going to be the opposite; I think it is going to encourage voter participation,” Rep. Gray said.  “We saw a great deal of discouragement over our last election due to the problems that have been discussed.”

The bill did not pass unanimously, and some voiced their opposition during public comments.  Marguerite Herman of the Wyoming League of Women Voters is someone who expressed her opposition to the bill.

“If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it,“ Herman said.  “House Bill 75 proposes a new requirement of Wyoming voters that seems to achieve no improved security but potentially hinders voters who pre-date the current registration ID requirement or who don’t have an acceptable ID at the time they are at the polls.”

Other concerns that there was no evidence of voter fraud in Wyoming and the “bill was based on a false premise” were voiced by Chris Merrill of the Equality State Policy Center.

Cassie Craven, a lobbyist for the Wyoming Liberty Group, spoke in favor of the bill.  “I think that preserving the integrity of our elections and making sure that we are the gold standard in our nation as Wyomingites is of critical importance,” Craven said. “In the context of voting, this is a right.  This is a right the government can take away; it is a right that the government can monitor.  So, with that right, I find it unfortunate that oftentimes frame this conversation in light of what we are doing against people.”

Secretary Buchanan addressed the issue of voter participation and its importance to his office.  “I heard a lot about the real problem is voter apathy, and that’s true,” Buchanan said.  “We have a lot of things we are working on.  We are exempt from motor voter laws because we allow same-day registration.  We have a youth voter initiative where we get out and travel the state to encourage young people to get involved. We do everything we can in my office to encourage people to vote.”