The Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Committee voted to advance House Bill 156, which would require people registering to vote in Wyoming to show documentary proof that they have been bona fide residents of the state for at least 30 days before the election and give the Secretary of State rulemaking authority to define acceptable proof. The committee recorded an 8-1 vote to pass the bill in committee.

Sponsor Representative Bair, who presented the bill to the committee, said the measure would add a durational residency requirement to the state election code and require proof of residence at registration. "We are going to require qualified electors to be a bona fide resident of the State of Wyoming, and we are also going to require that they have lived within the state for 30 days before they register to vote," Bair told the committee.

Why it matters: supporters said the bill responds to public concern about election security by adding documentary checks to the current attestation-based registration process and by giving the Secretary of State explicit authority to adopt rules that list acceptable proofs. Secretary of State Chuck Gray told the committee that Wyoming currently requires only an attestation of residency and citizenship at registration and that the proposed law is the top priority of his office's election-integrity agenda. "Only Wyomingites and only Wyomingites should be allowed to vote in Wyoming elections, period," Gray said.

What the bill would do: Representative Bair walked the committee through the draft amendments to multiple parts of Title 22 of the Wyoming statutes. The bill inserts a 30-day durational residency requirement into definitions of a qualified elector, adds "proof of residence" to registration and absentee-registration provisions, and requires county clerks to refuse to register a person if identification or proof of residence "contains any indication that the person is not a citizen of the United States" unless accompanied by documentary proof of citizenship as specified in rules.

Administration and exemptions: supporters said the measure leaves details to rulemaking so the Secretary of State can adapt acceptable proofs over time. Gray and his policy director Joe Rubino said that approach is intentional to allow remedies for specific circumstances — for example, where licensed credentials list a P.O. box instead of a physical address or where residents live in long-term care facilities. Rubino referenced federal and state precedent on durational residency and said 30 days is the durational standard that has best survived constitutional scrutiny in other states.

Concerns and public testimony: county clerks, the League of Women Voters, the Equality State Policy Center, tribal representatives and other witnesses supported the bill's intent but urged cautious and inclusive rulemaking. Mary Langford of the County Clerk's Association said clerks need a clear statutory definition of what constitutes a "bona fide resident" and warned that many rural residents have mailing addresses or P.O. boxes on credentials rather than physical addresses. Marguerite Herman of the League of Women Voters and Marissa Carpio of the Equality State Policy Center said the rules must avoid creating undue burdens for seniors, people in assisted living, Indigenous residents on reservations, people without traditional street addresses and others who may lack standard documents.

Operational details raised in testimony included: the Wyoming driver services office is modernizing its credentialing system to allow a physical address to be recorded separately from a mailing address (agency staff said the upgrade should go live later this year); clerks noted WYOREG runs backend checks that flag some citizenship or residency issues but that front-end documentary proof is different; and Secretary Gray said an April 12 veto of a prior rule attempt by the governor left the office seeking statutory authority to proceed.

Committee action: Representative Haupp moved to advance the bill; Representative Weber seconded. The committee recorded individual votes on the roll: Representatives Brown (Aye), Locke (Aye), Heft (Aye), Johnson (Aye), Lucas (Aye), Webb (Aye), Weber (Aye), Yin (No), and Chairman Knapp (Aye). The committee tally recorded eight ayes and one no; the bill passed the committee.

Next steps: the bill sponsor indicated he will carry the bill on the House floor. The Secretary of State and county clerks told the committee they expect to work together during any subsequent rulemaking or implementation steps to define acceptable documents and operational procedures.