Election law violations-penalties and enforcement.

ORIGINAL
House
ENGROSSED
Bill No
.
HB0002

ENROLLED ACT NO. 23,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2018 Budget Session

AN ACT relating to elections; modifying penalties imposed upon persons failing to file campaign reports; providing for the collection of delinquent civil penalties, interest and other costs for failing to file campaign reports; repealing criminal penalties for failing to file campaign reports; amending elements and penalties for registration offenses and false voting; modifying enforcement provisions for violations of the Election Code; imposing duties on the secretary of state; and providing for effective dates.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 22
‑
25
‑
108
(a)
,
(b)
and by creating new subsections (f) through (m)
, 22
‑
26
‑
102(a)(intro), (i) and by creating new subsections (b) through (e), 22
‑
26
‑
106(a)(intro), (i), (iii) and by creating new subsections (b) through (e)
and 22
‑
26
‑
121 are amended to read:

22
‑
25
‑
108
.

Failure of
persons to file reports; notice; penalties
; reconsideration
.

(a)

Candidates

Any p
erson required to file
a
report under W.S. 22
‑
25
‑
106
shall be given notice prior to an election
, by the appropriate filing office specified under W.S. 22
‑
25
‑
107,
that failure to file
,

the report
within the time required
, a full and complete itemized statement of contributions if required pursuant to

W.S. 22
‑
25
‑
107 and a statement of contributions and expenditures

by that section
shall subject the
candidate

person
to civil penalties as provided in subsection
(e)

(f)
of this section.

The notice shall inform any ca
ndidate
'
s
campaign committee, organization, political party or political action committee
that
the o
fficers
responsible for filing
the
report
shall be subject to the same civil penalties as the candidate
'
s

campaign committee, organization, political party or political action committee for failure to file the report
.

(b)

A candidate

Any person
who fails to file
the statement of contributions required by the seventh day before the election

a report under W.S. 22
‑
25
‑
106
within the time required by that section
shall have
his

their
name printed on a list drafted by the appropriate filing office
.

specified under W.S. 22
‑
25
‑
107.

The
list

filing office
shall
:

(i)

I
mmediately
be posted

post the list
in the filing office and
made

make the list
available to the public
;
.

(ii)

Notify the person
at their address of record
that th
e person has
twenty
‑
one (21) days from the date the notice was sent

to comply with W.S. 22
‑
25
‑
106 or be subject to civil penalties

as provided in
subsection (
f
)
of this section
.

(f)

T
he
appropriate
filing office
or the county attorney, for reports required to be filed with the county clerk,
shall issue a final order
imposing the civil penalt
y
specified in this subsection
against

any
person
failing to comply with W.S. 22
‑
25
‑
106
twenty
‑
one (21) days from the date the notice was sent under
subsection (b) of this section. The final order shall be sent to the person at their address of record and shall notify the person of the right to request reconsideration of the
order
as provided
in
subsection (h) of this
section
. The
filing office
or county attorney
shall impose the
following civil penalt
y
in the final order
:

(i)

F
ive hundred dollars ($500.00)
for

a
fail
ure
to file a report

with the secretary of state
;

(ii)

T
wo hundred dollars ($200.00) for
a
failure to file a report with
the
county clerk
.

(
g
)

Any candidate required to
file a
report under W.S. 22
‑
25
‑
106 who
authorizes
the candidate
'
s campaign committee
to
file on their behalf as provided by W.S. 22
‑
25
‑
106(j) shall be
jointly and severally
liable
with the candidate
'
s campaign committee
for

a
ny
civil
penalty
imposed
under
this section
.

(
h
)

Any person may
,
within twenty (20) days
of the date of
a
final order issued
pursuant to
subsection (f)
of this section,
request reconsideration
of the order
and submit documentation
to the appropriate filing office
or county attorney

showing good cause

for
a
failure to file a report
. The filing offic
e
or county attorney
may
, after a decision finding good cause,
waive
any civil penalty imposed
under
this section
provided that the person
files the report
within the time specified
in
the
decision
.
A

decision
to not waive
an

imposed
penalty by the
s
ecretary of state

is
subject to the contested case procedures of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act
. A decision to not waive an imposed penalty by the c
ounty
attorney

is appealable
to
a
circuit court of appropriate jurisdiction.

(
j
)

A civil penalty imposed
under
this section shall be paid within thirty (30) days of the date of the final order issued
pursuant to
subsection (f)
of this section or the date of
a
decision denying
reconsideration by the
appropriate
filing office
or county attorney
, w
hichever is later
.
Any penalty not paid
within the time required by this subsection
is
d
elinquent
and
shall bear interest at
a
rate of
eighteen percent (18%) per annum until paid or collected, provided that
no
penalty is due and no
interest shall accrue during any period
in
which
the penalty is
being
reviewed
by

a

court
or
during the pendency of a
contested case proceeding
. The filing office
for the state
shall notify the
attorney general
of a delinquent
civil
penalty.

(
k
)

A delinquent civil penalty may be recovered in an action brought in the name of the state of Wyoming in any court of appropriate jurisdiction. In addition to any other remedy provided by law for the recovery of the penalty and any interest thereon, the county attorney or the attorney general
, as appropriate,
may recover any costs or damages relating to the recovery effort including attorney
'
s fees. No filing fee shall be charged for the filing of an action under this subsection nor shall a fee be
charged for service of process.

(m)

Civil penalties and any interest thereon shall be paid to the clerk of court with jurisdiction over the matter for deposit to the public school fund of the county in which the fine was assessed. Any recovered costs or damages r
elating to the recovery effort
shall be retained by the county or the
state
, as appropriate
.

22
‑
26
‑
102
.

Registration offenses.

(a)

Registration offenses consist of performing any of the following acts
with the intent to deceive a registration official or to subvert the registration requirements of the law or rights of a qualified elector

in connection with or related to the election process or an election
:

(i)

Signing or offering to sign an application to register when not a qualified elector or to register under a false name
or residence address
;

(b)

Unless otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section, registration offenses are misdemeanor offenses punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200.00).

(c)

Registration offenses committed with the intent to deceive a registration official are high misdemeanor offenses punishable by not more than one (1) year imprisonment, a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), or both.

(d)

Second or subsequent offenses under subsection (c) of this section are felony offenses punishable by not more than five (5) years imprisonment, a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), or both.

(e)

The county sheriff shall investigate registration offenses at the request of a county clerk who has reasonable cause to believe that a person has committed a registration offense. After an investigation and a finding that the allegation has merit, the county sheriff shall refer the matter to the district attorney for prosecution in the appropriate courts of this state.

22
‑
26
‑
106
.

False voting.

(a)

False voting consists of
performing any of the following acts in connection with or related to the election process or an election
:

(i)

Voting, or offering to vote,
with the knowledge of
when
not
being
a qualified elector entitled to vote at the election;

(iii)

Knowingly
V
oting, or offering to vote, in a precinct other than that in which qualified to vote;

(b)

Unless otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section, false voting is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200.00).

(c)

False voting committed with the knowledge of not being a qualified elector entitled to vote at the election or in that precinct is a high misdemeanor offense punishable by not more than one (1) year imprisonment, a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), or both.

(d)

Second or subsequent offenses under subsection (c) of this section are felony offenses punishable by not more than five (5) years imprisonment, a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), or both.

(e)

The county sheriff shall investigate acts of false voting at the request of a county clerk who has reasonable cause to believe that a person has committed false voting. After an investigation and a finding that the allegation has merit, the county sheriff shall refer the matter to the district attorney for prosecution in the appropriate courts of this state.

22
‑
26
‑
121
.

Violations of election code; c
omplaint
s
; investigations and prosecutions
.

(a)

Any qualified elector aggrieved by

Except as
otherwise
provided in this section, any
person may file a written complaint with the secretary of state
regarding
any violation

of the
Wyoming
Election Code
of 1973, as amended, may file a written complaint of the violation with the secretary of state or with the district attorney for the county in which the elector resides

by any statewide or legislative candidate
,
committee or organization
. If the secretary of state
or the district attorney fails or refuses for any reason to take action on or prosecute the elector
'
s complaint, the elector may file the complaint
with

finds that the complaint has merit
and suspects a violation of the
Election
Code
, he
shall
refer the complaint to
the Wyoming attorney general

for investigation and prosecution
.
If
T
he attorney general
finds that the elector
'
s complaint has merit, he
may prosecute the complaint in the
appropriate courts of this state

district court for the district in which the violation was alleged to occur
or in the district court for Laramie county if the violation is reasonably believed to occur in more than one (1) judicial district
.

(b)

A chief election officer

Except as
otherwise
provided in this section, any person
may file a written complaint with the
district attorney or attorney general
county clerk

regarding any violation of the
Wyoming
Election Code
of 1973, as amended

by any county or municipal candidate, committee or organization
. If the

attorney general

county clerk
finds that the
election officer
'
s
complaint has merit
, he may prosecute the complaint in the appropriate courts of this state and if the violation is reasonably believed to occur in more than one (1) district the complaint may be filed in the di
strict court for Laramie county

and suspects a violation of the Election Code,
the county clerk
shall
refer the complaint
to the district attorney for the county in which the candidate resides

for investigation and prosecution
.

(
c
)

Complaints
that the
s
ecretary of
s
tate violated the Election Code
shall be filed with the attorney general fo
r investigation and prosecution
. Complaints
that
the

county clerk
violated the Election Code s
hall be
filed with the
district attorney
for
the county

for investigation and prosecution
.

(
d
)

The secretary of state
or
the county clerk may
r
efer any suspected violation of the
E
lection Code to the appropriate prosecuting authority as provided in this section.

(e)

A complaint of a violation of W.S. 22
‑
26
‑
102 or 22
‑
26
‑
106 shall be filed with the county clerk for the county in which the elector resides and be investigated by the county sheriff as provided in those sections. If the county clerk or other appropriate official specified in W.S. 22
‑
26
‑
102(e) or 22
‑
26
‑
106(e) fails or refuses for any reason to take action on the elector
'
s complaint, the elector may file a complaint with the Wyoming attorney general.

(
f
)

As used in this section:

(i)

"
County or municipal candidate, committee or organization
"
means any county or municipal candidate, candidate committee for county or municipal office, political action committee for county or municipal candidate, political action committee or organization supporting or opposing a municipal
initiative or referendum
petition drive
or ballot proposition within a county or
political subdivision or any other person not identified in paragraph (ii) of this
sub
section;

(ii)

"
Statewide or legislative candidate, committee or organization
"
means any statewide or legislative candidate, candidate committee for statewide or legislative office, political action committee or organization supporting or opposing any statewide or legislative candidate
or any
statewide initiative or referendum petition drive
or
ballot proposition
, or
state or county party central committee.

Section 2
.

W.S.
22
‑
25
‑
108(c)

through
(e)
,

22
‑
25
‑
109
and 22
‑
26
‑
101(a)(i) and (v)

are
repealed.

Section 3
.

The secretary of state
shall
develop
a
form

that

the secretary of state and
county clerks
may
use to receive
written complaints
under W.S. 22
‑
26
‑
121
,
as amended by this act
.

Section
4
.

(a)

Section 3 of this act
is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(b)

Except as provided in subsection (a) of this section, t
his act is effective
May
1, 201
8
.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED:
_________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the House.

Chief Clerk

1