CASPER (WNE) — The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday passed a bill that would make pen and paper ballots the default method to mark ballots in Wyoming. 

Secretary of State Chuck Gray testified in support of the bill and added that Laramie County — Wyoming’s largest county by population — is the only county in the state that does not have pen and paper ballots as their default. 

“It accounted for 16% of votes cast statewide in the 2024 general election, and Laramie County uses this Express vote system where voters insert a ballot card in a machine, select their candidates on a touch screen and receive a printed ballot with a list of their votes,” he said. 

HB 245 passed with a 6-1 vote. 

Gray and Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, the sponsor of the bill, said that the tabulator provides a bar code that does not let electors verify their selections.  

Gray added that the barcode system is an unsatisfying way to vote. 

“The tabulation machines count votes on these ballot cards by reading bar codes that are printed on a ballot card, not by reading the printed names on the voters ballot,” Gray said. “Relying on the bar codes decreases trust in our elections, because electors cannot verify that the bar codes under ballot correspond to the candidates they voted for.”

Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee delivered prepared remarks to the committee and said that the touch screen system the county uses reduces error. 

“Because the ballot style is linked directly to the registration, the risk of human error is greatly reduced with our touch screen system,” she said. “Touch screens ensure the accuracy of the vote. Voters have two opportunities to review their ballot before it’s cast: once on the screen and then on the printed paper. Touch screens produce an error-free ballot.” 

The bill will now head to the House.