CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Committee voted Monday to sponsor a sweeping package of six election reform bills that boost manual ballot counting and expand poll watcher authority. 

The bills advanced despite stern warnings from county clerks that the changes could prove logistically impossible to implement by the 2026 election cycle. Critics argued the package restricts ballot access and competition for independent candidates.

The committee’s action sponsors six working draft measures that focus on shifting the election process toward increased hand counting of ballots and enhanced oversight.

Lawmakers first approved “26LSO-0043, Random hand count audits of election results,” 11–2. The bill requires county clerks to conduct a hand count audit in one randomly selected precinct after primary and general elections to compare manual results to electronic tabulation.

The committee also voted 11–2 to sponsor “26LSO-0044, Elections-hand counting for recounts,” which mandates automatic hand recounts in close statewide and legislative races. Rep. Mike Yin, D-Teton County, and Sen. Cole Case, R-Lander, cast the dissenting votes on both measures.

Malcolm Ervin, Platte County clerk and president of the County Clerks Association, urged the committee to consider a later effective date for the changes. The bill requires the Secretary of State to adopt rules for the audits by July 1, 2026.

“I hate to be the one that comes up here and says I worry that this as written can’t be implemented effectively in ’26, but that is the reality,” Ervin said, adding the state should bear the cost of the new recount method.

A speaker from Sheridan County, Elena Campbell, supported transparency but sought more expansive audits, saying: “If the mechanics of voting are shrouded in complexity or lack transparency, trust in the electoral outcome diminishes, eroding the foundation of our very republic.”

The contested “26LSO-0045, Poll watchers-polling stations observation” passed 9–4. The bill expands poll watcher authority, clarifying they can observe all election procedures, including setup and shutdown. It allows one poll watcher per political party for each precinct served at multi-precinct locations.

Sen. Bill Landen, R-Natrona County, was strongly opposed, calling the bill excessive.

“To me, this is the bottom dweller of the whole bunch,” he said. “We’ve had testimony that, in many of the circumstances, we don’t even have venues that will hold all of these people. This is a very comprehensive bill that asks an awful lot out of our county clerks. … I don’t think it’s needed. I think it’s overkill and it does nothing for the integrity of elections in my view.”

Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese detailed the potential logistical burdens, saying her 32 precincts “could mean 96 poll watchers. This is more than my largest vote center has judges for.”

Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Laramie County, supported the measure.

“We need to provide for purity of these elections. We need to let the people know that these elections are accurate and competent,” he said.

The committee also voted 9–3 to sponsor “26LSO-0048, Elections-acceptable identification revisions,” requiring all acceptable ID for in-person voting to include a photograph. It repeals Medicare/Medicaid and public school/university IDs as acceptable forms. Secretary of State Chuck Gray said the goal was to achieve “true voter ID” to prevent voter impersonation.

Richard Garrett of AARP Wyoming asked the committee to consider alternatives for elderly voters who might struggle to get photo IDs. Garrett offered several proposals, including one modeled after Arkansas law. 

“In Arkansas, we actually find that nursing home residents without a photo ID are allowed to vote at the polling place with documentation of nursing home residency provided by a long-term care facility administrator, attesting the voter is a resident of the facility,” he said. “Nebraska also allows for the same provision.”

The bill aimed at independent candidate requirements, “26LSO-0046, Elections-independent candidate requirements,” also passed 10–3, increasing the required number of signatures to 5% for district races and aligning the filing deadline with partisan candidates. Landen, Yin and Case voted no.

“What this does is close the door on independent candidates, and ultimately the question is what are we afraid of?” Yin said. “This is literally restricting access to the general election ballot in a way that kind of just says that we’re afraid of competition. … Out of all of the bills that we have so far, this is the most rankling one just because it says we’re scared, and I think it makes it very apparent that we’re scared as a legislature.”

The final bill sponsored was “26LSO-0047, Elections-voting machine and voting system tests,” which passed 11–1, with Yin again dissenting. The bill clarifies testing procedures and removes the previous presumption that voting machines were properly prepared.

The committee tabled “26LSO-0049, Election transparency,” an omnibus bill that would have mandated paper ballots and lowered the period for early in-person absentee voting.

The body previously supported “26LSO-0041, Ballot drop boxes-prohibition” during its August meeting. Under that proposed change, marked absentee ballots must be mailed or hand delivered to the clerk, explicitly banning the use of receptacles by officials.

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CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A 4-cent drop made Laramie County’s gas price the second cheapest in Wyoming this week.

The nation’s average price of gasoline also fell 1.4 cents over the last week, standing at $2.99 per gallon, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports. The national average is down 14.8 cents from a month ago and 6.6 cents from a year ago.

The national average price of diesel has increased 2.5 cents in the last week to stand at $3.663 per gallon.

AAA reports a national average price of $3.03, down 2 cents from last week. Wyoming’s state average fell 1 cent to $2.92, AAA said.

“The national average once again briefly dipped below the $3 per gallon mark, but the drop will be short-lived,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “Gas prices are likely to rebound soon in the Great Lakes states due to ongoing refinery challenges, while a new snag at a California refinery may slow the pace of declines on the West Coast. To top it off, OPEC+ announced another boost to oil production for December over the weekend, though they also signaled a pause in further increases from January through March.

“For now, expect the national average to hover in the low-$3 range, potentially drifting lower once refinery issues are resolved.”

Laramie County’s average price of $2.68 is Wyoming’s second lowest, up two spots from last week. The cheapest fuel in the county on Monday is $2.61 at Sam’s Club, 1948 Dell Range Blvd., followed by $2.63 at Maverik, 140 Gardenia Drive, and Loaf ‘N Jug, 534 Vandehei Ave., according to GasBuddy reports.

Wyoming’s cheapest fuel for the 11th straight week is in Natrona County, which has an average price of $2.56, down 9 cents from last week. Converse County toppled Campbell and Albany counties to offer the state’s third-cheapest average at $2.70.

Also included in GasBuddy’s report:

OIL MARKET DYNAMICS

Over the last week, oil markets have been a bit more tame, balancing new sanctions on Russian oil exports with OPEC’s weekend decision to again raise oil production for the month of December, keeping oil prices in check. In early trade, WTI crude oil was down 3 cents to $60.95 per barrel, a slight drop from last Monday’s $61.53 per barrel fetch. Brent crude oil was also slightly lower in early trade, down 4 cents to $64.73, down from $65.96 last Monday. “Oil prices have moved nearly sideways in recent days. While there is rising skepticism that the latest sanctions on Russian oil companies remove substantial oil supply from the market, large US oil inventory draws last week kept prices supported,” added Giovanni Staunovo, UBS commodities analyst, in an e-mail. “The OPEC+ decision to pause their supply increases during the seasonal weaker Q1 demand period is also giving moderate support.”

OIL AND REFINED PRODUCT SUPPLIES

The EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending October 24, 2025, showed U.S. oil inventories fell by 6.9 million barrels, and are about 6% below the seasonal average for this time of year, while the SPR rose 500,000 barrels to 409.1 million. Gasoline inventories fell by 5.9 million barrels and are about 3% below the five-year seasonal average, while distillate inventories fell by 3.4 million barrels and are about 8% below the five-year seasonal average. Refinery utilization fell 2.0 percentage points to 86.6%, while implied gasoline demand, EIA’s proxy for retail demand, rose 470,000 bpd to 8.924 million barrels per day.

GAS PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $2.99 per gallon, up 10 cents from last week, followed by $2.89, $2.79, $2.69, and $2.59, rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. gas price is $2.89 per gallon, up 2 cents from last week and about 10 cents lower than the national average.

The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.41 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.37 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average prices: Oklahoma ($2.48), Texas ($2.48), and Louisiana ($2.53).

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The states with the highest average prices: California ($4.61), Hawaii ($4.43), and Washington ($4.23).

Biggest weekly changes: Indiana (-13.3¢), Texas (-10.0¢), Michigan (-9.8¢), Washington (-9.0¢), Iowa (-8.8¢)

DIESEL PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $3.69 per gallon, up 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.49, $3.79, $3.59, and $3.39, rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. diesel price is $3.59 per gallon, up 4 cents from last week and about 7 cents lower than the national average.

Diesel prices at the top 10% of stations in the country average $4.61 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.04 per gallon.

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The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Texas ($3.15), Louisiana ($3.23), and Mississippi ($3.24).

The states with the highest average diesel prices: Hawaii ($5.21), California ($5.10), and Washington ($4.94).

Biggest weekly changes: New Jersey (+14.6¢), Florida (+10.4¢), Oklahoma (+7.7¢), Wyoming (+6.9¢), Nebraska (-6.8¢)

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Oil City News publishes letters, cartoons and opinions as a public service. The content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Oil City News or its employees. Letters to the editor can be submitted by following the link at our opinion section.

Dear Casper,

Our legislators are failing us all, and they know it.

This year, the Wyoming legislature voted to burden our public schools with a $686 million funding deficit through property tax cuts without a plan to make up for that loss. They also passed legislation to allow public dollars to be pulled from public institutions and instead used for private education.

Additionally, despite the overwhelming evidence that Wyoming’s economy is not adequately diversified, lawmakers continue to fail to support economic development that would sustainably attract young families to the state. Boom and bust cycles hit and the global economy continues to move away from some of the industries we have over-relied on to support our state. As a result, young families go, school enrollment declines, and so does the funding that comes with it. 

On top of these local leadership failures, the state faces $50 million in royalty losses annually from increased federal subsidies to the coal industry as part of the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”  

All of these factors converge to dramatically underfund and undermine public education, our children, and our state’s future. Our lawmakers know this, and they are only making it worse. They are intentionally stripping our schools, our families, and our children of the resources that are necessary to ensure individuals can thrive into adulthood and that we have stable, accessible economies across the state.

This week the School Finance Recalibration Committee met in Casper. The committee seems prepared to take the critical step to increase teacher salaries. This is essential and not enough. Despite testimony that strongly reflected the value of school resource officers, school counselors, and food services, the committee is not planning to increase support to any of them. This is despite the judicial finding earlier this year that lawmakers have routinely underfunded our public education system for decades.

Our state Constitution mandates that our public schools are adequately funded to provide a quality and equitable education to all Wyoming students. This is good for children, families, and the state overall. Only the legislature can make the necessary decisions to fulfill this mandate. They aren’t. It’s time to vote them out for those who will. 

Writing in solidarity for a better Wyoming future,

Jai-Ayla Sutherland
Casper

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