2010 Wyoming Statutes
Title 22 - Elections
Chapter 26 - Offenses And Penalties

CHAPTER 26 - OFFENSES AND PENALTIES

 

22-26-101. Felony offenses generally.

 

 

(a) The following acts in connection with or related to the election process or an election, if knowingly and willfully committed, are felony offenses punishable by not more than five (5) years' imprisonment in the state penitentiary or a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), or both:

 

(i) Registration offenses;

 

(ii) Unlawful opening of a ballot box;

 

(iii) Unlawful opening of a voting machine;

 

(iv) Unlawful possession of a key;

 

(v) False voting;

 

(vi) Falsifying election documents;

 

(vii) False swearing;

 

(viii) Offering a bribe;

 

(ix) Accepting a bribe;

 

(x) Intimidation.

 

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:

 

(i) Signing or offering to sign an application to register when not a qualified elector or to register under a false name;

 

(ii) Soliciting, procuring, aiding, abetting, inducing or attempting to solicit, procure, aid, abet or induce a person to register under the name of any other person, or a false name, or to register when not a qualified elector;

 

(iii) Destroying or altering a registration record when not authorized by law;

 

(iv) False swearing after being challenged.

 

22-26-103. Unlawful opening of ballot box.

 

Unlawful opening of a ballot box consists of opening a ballot box or inspecting or removing the contents thereof without lawful authority, or conspiring with others so to open a ballot box.

 

22-26-104. Unlawful opening of voting machine.

 

Unlawful opening of a voting machine consists of opening, unlocking, inspecting, tampering with, resetting or adjusting a voting machine without lawful authority, or conspiring with others to do so.

 

22-26-105. Unlawful possession of key.

 

Unlawful possession of a key consists of the possession at any time of a key to a voting machine or ballot box, or making a duplicate thereof, unless authorized by law.

 

22-26-106. False voting.

 

 

(a) False voting consists of:

 

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

 

(ii) Voting, or offering to vote, in the name of another person or under a false name;

 

(iii) Knowingly voting, or offering to vote, in a precinct other than that in which qualified to vote;

 

(iv) Voting, or offering to vote, more than once in an election.

 

22-26-107. Falsifying election documents.

 

 

(a) Falsifying election documents consists of performing any of the following acts with the intent to deceive or mislead an elector or an election official:

 

(i) Printing, distributing or displaying false instructions for voting or for the conduct of an election;

 

(ii) Printing, distributing or displaying any official ballot, sample ballot, facsimile diagram, ballot label or pretended ballot which includes the name of a person not entitled by law to be on the ballot, or omits the name of a person entitled by law to be on the ballot, or otherwise contains false information or headings;

 

(iii) Defacing, altering, forging, making false entries in or changing in any way a petition, certificate of nomination, registration record or election return required by law;

 

(iv) Preparing or submitting a false certificate of nomination, registration record or election return.

 

22-26-108. False swearing.

 

False swearing consists of taking an oath required by the Election Code with the knowledge that the thing or matter sworn to is not true and correct.

 

22-26-109. Offering bribe.

 

 

(a) Offering bribe consists of willfully advancing, paying, offering to pay or causing to be paid, or promising, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing to a person, for any of the following purposes:

 

(i) To induce a person to vote or refrain from voting for or against a candidate or ballot proposition or to sign or not sign a petition;

 

(ii) To induce an election official to mark, alter, suppress or change a ballot that has been cast, an election return, any certificate of election, or petition.

 

22-26-110. Accepting bribe.

 

Accepting a bribe consists of knowingly accepting any payment or promise of payment, directly or indirectly, of money or other valuable thing for any of the unlawful purposes specified in W.S. 22-26-109.

 

22-26-111. Intimidation.

 

(a) Intimidation consists of:

 

(i) Inducing, or attempting to induce, fear in an election official or elector by use of threats of force, violence, harm or loss, or any form of economic retaliation, for the purpose of impeding or preventing the free exercise of the elective franchise or the impartial administration of the Election Code; or

 

(ii) Soliciting the contribution of funds, other items of value or election assistance to the campaign of any candidate, candidate's committee, political action committee or sponsors of a ballot proposition, by use of threats of physical violence or any form of economic or official retaliation.

 

(b) It is not a defense to a prosecution under this section that the defendant did not in fact possess the ability to carry out the threat made.

 

22-26-112. Misdemeanor offenses generally.

 

(a) Unless a different penalty is specifically provided in this code, the following acts, if knowingly and willfully committed, are misdemeanor offenses punishable by not more than six (6) months in a county jail or a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), or both:

 

(i) Electioneering too close to a polling place;

 

(ii) Disturbing a polling place;

 

(iii) Unlawful possession of alcoholic or malt beverages at a polling place;

 

(iv) Accepting or expending any money or incurring any obligation on behalf of any candidate for nomination or election to office without such candidate's prior written approval;

 

(v) Employer interfering with political rights of employees;

 

(vi) Discharging an employee because of nomination for or election to political office;

 

(vii) Causing or attempting to cause a candidate to withdraw or refuse nomination or election;

 

(viii) Violating W.S. 22-2-113;

 

(ix) Violating W.S. 22-25-101 through 22-25-115;

 

(x) Filing or signing a false statement of receipts and expenditures required by W.S. 22-25-106.

 

22-26-113. Electioneering too close to a polling place.

 

Electioneering too close to a polling place on election day, or absentee polling place under W.S. 22-9-125, consists of any form of campaigning, including the display of campaign signs or distribution of campaign literature, the soliciting of signatures to any petition or the canvassing or polling of voters, except exit polling by news media, within one hundred (100) yards of the building in which the polling place is located.

 

22-26-114. Disturbing polling place.

 

Disturbing a polling place consists of creating any disorder or disruption at a polling place on election day, or absentee polling place under W.S. 22-9-125, or interfering with the orderly conduct of an election.

 

22-26-115. Unlawful possession of alcoholic or malt beverages.

 

Unlawful possession of alcoholic or malt beverages at a polling place consists of the use or possession of any alcoholic or malt beverages by an election official while performing his official duties or the use or possession by any person of these beverages in a polling place during an election.

 

22-26-116. Interfering with employee's political rights.

 

Interfering with an employee's political rights consists of an employer making, adopting, enforcing or attempting to enforce any order, rule, regulation or policy forbidding or preventing any employee from becoming a candidate for public office or for a position on any public board or commission or making, adopting, enforcing or attempting to enforce any order, rule, or regulation controlling or attempting to control such employee's vote on any question at any public election, or in any public position or board or in any office to which such employee may be appointed or elected.

 

22-26-117. Discharging employee because of nomination for or election to office.

 

Discharging an employee because of nomination for or election to office consists of any employer discharging or causing to leave his, or their employ, temporarily or permanently, any person or persons because he or they have been nominated as a candidate for or elected to any position of honor, trust or emolument, to be voted for at any election, held in pursuance of the laws of this state.

 

22-26-118. Causing or attempting to cause candidate to withdraw or refuse nomination or election.

 

Causing or attempting to cause a candidate to withdraw or refuse nomination or election consists of any person, or agent, or officer, or any company, or corporation either causing or attempting to cause any person or persons nominated as candidates or elected at any election, to withdraw, or refrain from accepting such nomination or election by threatening loss of employment, business or patronage, if he or they accept such candidacy or election, or making it a condition of employment, business or patronage, that such candidacy or election shall not be accepted.

 

22-26-119. Violation of Election Code by officials.

 

Violation of the Election Code by an official consists of the willful violation of the Election Code by any official or by any deputy or assistant official, or the willful failure or refusal of any official or assistant to perform an act or duty required of him by the Election Code. Any official, deputy or assistant who commits a violation of the Election Code is guilty of a felony and, in addition to the penalty prescribed by W.S. 22-26-101, is subject to removal from office in a proceeding instituted for that purpose.

 

22-26-120. Violation of Election Code when specific penalty not imposed.

 

If the Election Code does not impose a specific penalty for the willful violation of a provision prohibiting a specific act or requiring the discharge of a specific duty, whoever knowingly commits a violation or fails to discharge the duty is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by the penalty prescribed by W.S. 22-26-112.

 

22-26-121. Complaint by aggrieved elector; chief election officials.

 

(a) Any 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.

 

(b) A chief election officer may file a written complaint with the district attorney or attorney general regarding any violation of the Wyoming Election Code of 1973, as amended. If the attorney general 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 district court for Laramie county.