Election offenses and penalties.

2018
STATE OF WYOMING
18LSO-0110
Numbered
1.2

HOUSE BILL

NO.

HB0038

Election offenses and penalties.

Sponsored by:
Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Interim Committee

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to elections; amending elements and penalties for registration offenses and false voting; specifying procedures for investigating and prosecuting registration offenses and false voting; and providing for an effective date.

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

Section
1
.

W.S. 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(a) and by creating
a
new subsection (c) are amended to read:

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 ($
2
00.00).

(
c
)

Registration offenses committed with the intent to deceive a registration official are high misdemeanor
offense
s 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.
A
fter
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
.

A
fter
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
.

Complaint
by aggrieved elector; chief election officials.

(a)

Except as otherwise provided in
subsection (c) of this section
, a
ny qualified elector aggrieved by 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. 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 the Wyoming attorney general. If the attorney general finds that the elector's complaint has merit, he may prosecute the complaint in the appropriate courts of this state.

(c)

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.

Section 2
.

W.S. 22
‑
26
‑
101(
a)
(i) and (v) is repealed.

Section
3
.

This act is effective July 1, 201
8
.

(END)

1
HB0038