 - Fremont County officials are assembling an “audit board” this year hand count 5 percent of ballots cast during the 2026 primary and general elections, in accordance with state statute.){kind=link}
(Lander, WY) – Fremont County officials are assembling an “audit board” this year to hand-count 5 percent of ballots cast during the 2026 primary and general elections, in accordance with state statute.
Senate File 113 – which was passed into law during the 2026 legislative session – requires each county clerk in Wyoming to assemble an audit board to conduct a hand count audit after this year’s primary and general elections.
The purpose of the audit, according to the statute, is “to complete a physical examination of as close to 5 percent of the total number of ballots cast on election day per county as possible and compare the results of the hand count audit to the results tabulated by electronic equipment.”
Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese said county clerks throughout Wyoming helped craft the legislation in order to address concerns about the integrity of electronic voting machines.
“There’s been a lot of talk about, ‘Our machines don’t work,’” she told the Fremont County Commission during a meeting this week. “We want to prove that they do.”
The audit will cover one federal race and one statewide race – both selected by the Wyoming Secretary of State – plus “each legislative race printed on the ballot,” according to the statute.
The hand count must be conducted within nine days after the county canvass, and “any inconsistencies or errors” must be reported to the Secretary of State within nine days of the county canvass, the statute states.
Freese said she brought her staff to Casper recently to practice the hand count process, and their results showed that the electronic voting machines were “100 percent accurate.”
The practice session also gave her an idea of the amount of time it might take the audit board to complete its task.
“We’re looking to maybe do it in one day (with) three to four teams,” she estimated, noting that the members of the audit board will be trained on the process ahead of time.
Audit board members will also be paid, Freese said, so “our budget is going to be up this year.”
The commission voted this week to set wages for election judges, with audit board members slated to receive $14 per hour for their service plus reimbursements for mileage, training, and meals.
For more information, call the Fremont County Clerk’s Office at (307) 332-2405.