Wyoming Panel Backs Felony Charge for Most Absentee Ballot Drop-offs

Oil City News, WyoFile, Wyoming Tribune Eagle contributed to this report.

A Wyoming legislative panel just signed off on a bill that would make most third-party delivery of absentee ballots a felony, tightening who can legally drop a ballot at the county clerk’s office.

On an 11–2 vote Tuesday, the Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Committee agreed to sponsor 26LSO-0042 for the 2026 budget session. The bill says only the voter, an immediate family member, a bona fide caregiver for a homebound voter, or an authorized employee of a residential care facility can deliver an absentee ballot in person.

The hotly debated piece: employees at nursing homes and other care facilities could ferry ballots for no more than five residents per election. Each delivery would require an affidavit to the county clerk saying they were authorized to help.

If an official spots an improper delivery before tabulation, the ballot doesn’t get counted and the clerk must try to notify the voter. Violations “knowingly and willfully” committed would be bumped up to a felony.

Rep. Mike Yin (D-Teton) and Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander) voted no. Secretary of State Chuck Gray cheered the measure as an “election integrity” update, arguing it guards against ballot harvesting and mirrors limits in other states. County clerks, meanwhile, said they’ve seen no evidence of ballot harvesting in Wyoming and warned the five-ballot cap could be a logistical headache for large facilities.

Opponents also worry the bill could criminalize people simply helping elderly or homebound voters. The League of Women Voters cautioned that strict numerical caps risk leaving some qualified voters behind.

This ballot-delivery bill is one piece of a broader package the committee advanced this week to remake how Wyoming runs elections. Highlights include:

• A ban on official ballot drop boxes, requiring absentee ballots to be mailed or hand-delivered to the clerk.

• Random hand-count audits in one precinct after each primary and general election.

• Automatic hand recounts in close statewide and legislative races, with counties on the hook for costs.

• Expanded poll-watcher access to observe all procedures, including setup and teardown.

• Tighter voter ID rules requiring a photo on acceptable IDs and removing Medicare/Medicaid and K-12/university IDs from the list.

County clerks urged caution, saying the stack of changes could be impossible to implement smoothly by the next cycle. Platte County Clerk Malcolm Ervin described “a lot of anxiety” among clerks and asked lawmakers to slow down timelines or study audit changes more before locking them in. Lawmakers largely pressed ahead.

Context from elsewhere: rules on who may return someone else’s ballot vary widely across the US According to Ballotpedia’s tallies, states range from broad permission to strict bans; Wyoming’s proposal sits on the restrictive end with limited exceptions and a felony backstop.

The full Legislature is set to take up the package during the 2026 budget session starting Feb. 9. For now, the message from the committee is clear: fewer third-party hands on absentee ballots, more paper and manual checks throughout the process, and tighter guardrails at the polls.