‘Aggressive’ DOJ Election Observers Disrupted Wyoming Primary, Governor Says

Wyoming's primary election last week went off without a hitch, Republican Gov. Mark Gordon largely concluded at a meeting Wednesday, save for one glaring exception: "aggressive" and "irregular" election observers, sent without warning by the Justice Department to a polling site In Laramie.

Gordon flagged the development during a meeting of the Wyoming State Canvassing Board yesterday, noting he'd asked the Wyoming attorney general to look into it.

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"To my knowledge, the U.S. Attorney was unaware of it, and it sounded like the behavior of the observers was a bit aggressive," Gordon said.

Laramie County Chief Election Clerk Debra Lee told WyoFile the individuals arrived unannounced and didn't offer any credentials, then proceeded to ask detailed questions that were "outside the scope of federal voting rights laws."

"They included questions about the nature, length, and timing of poll worker training. Monitors requested training guides, asked how our new election equipment was acquired, and wanted to examine our tabulators," she added.

Lee, who's also a Republican, said she called the Justice Department for clarification and was told that "the decision to deploy monitors to Wyoming was made on short notice, and an email had been sent to me, but it may have gone to the wrong address."

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A Justice Department press release dated Aug. 18 announced that election monitors from the DOJ's Civil Rights Division would be dispatched to the state. Wyoming held its primary the same day.

The election monitors also planned to interview voters, Lee said, but she denied their request. 

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Gordon seemed to believe the federal observers had overstepped state law, which already outlines proper polling observation processes.

"I feel very strongly about federal government coming in and taking our guns," he told the canvassing board on Wednesday. "I don't like that. And I don't like federal government coming in and taking our votes either."

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