 – If you haven’t already, it’s not too late to register for the Aug. 18 primary election.){kind=link}
(Fremont County, WY) – If you haven’t already, it’s not too late to register for the Aug. 18 primary election.
Although the advance registration deadline passed Aug. 3, eligible Fremont County residents can still register and vote at the Clerk’s Office during the early absentee voting period, or register and vote at the polls on Election Day.
Those registering should come prepared to meet new requirements this year, however, including proof of U.S. citizenship and at least 30 days of Wyoming residency.
Valid ID
For those with valid Wyoming driver’s licenses, Wyoming identification cards, or tribal ID cards from the Eastern Shoshone or Northern Arapaho Tribes, Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese said meeting the new registration requirements should be relatively straightforward.
“That will get you through everything,” Freese said this week, noting that, while there are exceptions to the rule, “generally,” a valid Wyoming driver’s license or ID card “will meet the criteria for U.S. citizenship (and) for residency as long as it has a Wyoming address on it.”
That address doesn’t have to be the voter’s current Fremont County address, Freese said, but a voter registering at a new address will have to swear an oath that they actually reside there.
New residents
Without a valid Wyoming driver’s license, state ID card, or tribal ID, Freese said new residents looking to register will have to prove that they’ve lived in the state since July 19.
The Secretary of State’s website provides a list of documents that can be used to prove Wyoming residency, but Freese said anyone who is unsure of what to bring should contact her office beforehand.
“It’s best just to call us,” she said. “We can go through the list.”
Freese had the same advice for anyone planning to register and vote at her office during the early absentee voting period, which runs through Aug. 17.
“The best bet is to give us a call if you’re not sure (what to bring),” she said, encouraging people who still need to register to do so before Election Day if possible so they “don’t hold up the lines at the polls.”
People who registered to vote before Aug. 3 need to show identification in order to cast a ballot too, Freese added, referring to Wyoming’s 2021 voter ID law.
Anyone who can’t present acceptable identification at the polls will have to cast a provisional ballot, she noted.
Meanwhile, Freese said voters who already have an absentee ballot should make sure it reaches her office by 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, in order to be counted.
With that deadline less than a week away, she advised voters to deliver any remaining absentee ballots to her office or drop-box in person, rather than risk late delivery through the mail.
Additional voter registration information is available on the Wyoming Secretary of State’s website.