On Friday, Wyoming’s Interim Secretary of State Karl Allred sent a letter to county clerk’s asking them to consider removing their absentee ballot drop boxes.  Currently seven of the 23 counties in the state offer drop boxes for absentee ballots. Lincoln County is not one of the seven.

In the letter, Interim Secretary Allred said “I’m mindful of the fact that there have been no issues reported with the use of drop boxes in Wyoming, but that does not alleviate the potential for abuse or destruction of ballots through the use of fire or other means.”

Allred, from Uinta County, was sworn in as the Interim Secretary of State last week, filling the remainder of Ed Buchan’s term. Current Republican nominee Chuck Gray is running unopposed in November’s general election and is expected to become the next Secretary of State. It is unknown if Allred sent the letter at the request of Gray or not.  Gray did promise during his campaign to remove ballot boxes, however since he won’t take office until January any potential action on changing future elections during his term wouldn’t take place until the 2024 elections. Cowboy State Daily reached out to both Gray and Allred, neither of which responded to the request for comment as of October 11.

On Tuesday morning during the Weekday Wakeup on SVI Radio, Duke & Dahl asked listeners if they agreed with Secretary Allred and Chuck Gray and believe ballot boxes should be removed, or if they felt that ballot boxes should still be allowed as part of Wyoming’s election system. Below are their responses.

Get rid of ballot boxes

“This is an obvious point of contention and always will be. Why not eliminate any doubt that our elections are safe and secure? And if you can drive to a drop box you can drive to a building and hand it to someone in person or mail it in which case you don’t have to go anywhere.”

“Election Day should be a national holiday and the only day to vote and in person.”

“No drop boxes!!!!It allows for illegal voting!!!”

“Get rid of them.”

“Why can’t people just mail them back? We’ve done that for years. One person, one ballot signed on the back of the envelope. Mail it, or drop it at the clerk’s office.”

“Not ok! One day voting only! Absentee voting only for military, those out of the country, and shut-ins. Absolutely no early voting, too many things can change between an early vote and Election Day.”

Keep ballot boxes

“I think Mr. Allred is looking for attention and name recognition for a future political position he plans to run for.”

“Hard to put much stock in a Secretary of State that was not elected. We have a county clerk that runs the election and does a great job. We should rely on our local elected clerk. That’s her job.”

“I’m fine with the drop box but maybe it would be smart to have the drop box funnel into a building straight into a safe location and not just sit in the box.”

“Glad to hear all of the world’s serious problems have been solved so now we can concentrate on things like the evil ballot drop boxes. Granted, other states may not have elections as secure as Wyoming but let them take care of their own problems if any exist.”

“Put a cowboy with his six shooter and his horse next to each drop box. That will fix the issue…if there ever has been an issue.”

“My son says it is helpful for him in Laramie County. For Secretary of State Allred to consider getting rid of drop boxes is a solution looking for a problem.”

“I’m a fan that decisions should be made at the local level. Let the county clerks do their job and back off Karl. Seriously – power trip much?”