12:40 p.m. | Voting appears to be far behind the 2022 primary in Natrona County

Voting in Casper got off to a slow start. Just after 11 a.m., only 867 votes had been cast at the county’s largest polling place, which has about 10,000 registered voters in 13 precincts, according to Tracy Good, Natrona County Supervisor of Elections. At the Restoration Church polling place, which has about 4,000 registered voters in six precincts, only 576 votes had been cast.

“It’s just been very, very slow,” Good said, adding that early voting and absentee voting numbers have also declined. The county received 2,300 absentee ballots and only 2,029 voters cast their ballots early. Natrona County voter turnout in the 2022 primary was 63%, according to Good.

Updated by Dustin Bleizeffer

11:48 am | In Fremont County, voters say the flood of campaign emails is unwanted

The clack of tennis balls from neighboring courts accompanied the stream of voters streaming in and out of the Bob Carey Memorial Fieldhouse, a sports facility converted into a polling place in Lander.

The morning crowd was in a jovial mood, with many people gathering outside in groups to chat, and several voters using canes or walkers to get to the polling stations.

Dick and Julie Lefevre chose their tandem. Lander residents view voting as a civic duty that ensures their concerns are heard, Dick Lefevre said. His wife added that it is important to elect candidates with integrity.

One issue that is particularly close to her heart is “the influence of outsider groups coming to Wyoming” to impose their beliefs and pump their money into the state’s politics, she said.

As residents of Fremont County, they were inundated with political emails, some of them containing false claims and misrepresentations. “They made me furious,” Julie Lefevre said.

Ann Huhnke was at the polling station with her grandson, 19-year-old Will Edlund, who was voting for the first time. Huhnke also received a stack of advertising mail that was “not necessarily wanted,” she said. “They were extremely negative.”

Lisa Kisling of Milford said she also received mail but ignored it. She looks at voting patterns and does her own homework to make her decisions, she said, and cares about issues such as balancing the budget and continuing oil and gas drilling on American soil.

Updated by Katie Klingsporn

9:17 am | Voting machines tested again, show accurate results

Some have questioned Wyoming’s voting machine testing in recent weeks, but several counties confirmed to WyoFile that new tests ordered by the Secretary of State showed accurate results. There have never been errors or failures in previous tests, Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett stressed. Some counties have conducted voting machine tests that have produced tie results, and in Wyoming, that’s against the law.

“Wyoming law … states that each candidate should have a different number of votes,” she said.

Updated by Madelyn Beck

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08:14 am | Polls open across Wyoming

The 2024 primary election began at 7 a.m. this morning as polls opened across Wyoming. At the Sweetwater County Courthouse in Green River, Presiding Election Judge Ian Parker set up a polling station outside with a sign, taking care to tape a red directional arrow well to protect it from the wind. Laurie Hamel helped him, saying, “I just want to make sure the election is fair.” Both are volunteers. “I believe that Wyoming’s elections are fair,” Hamel said.

Updated by Angus M. Thuermer Jr.

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07:26 am | Control of the Capitol: What’s at stake?

The Wyoming primary will answer a number of questions, but perhaps none is more important than this one: Which faction of the Wyoming Republican Party will control the Wyoming legislature? Control of the legislature is far from an academic question. It will affect a number of key issues in Wyoming, from energy to education. WyoFile reporters offer a video analysis here:

Updated by Joshua Wolfson

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06:24 am | Early voting has ended

Early voting results began pouring in Monday. In rural counties like Carbon and Weston, early voting results appear similar to previous election years, officials said, but in Albany County, turnout is well below 2022 numbers. As of late Monday afternoon, county elections coordinator Stacey Harvey said a total of about 2,161 people voted early – either in person or by mail-in ballot – compared to about 4,300 total early votes in the last primary election.

These lower numbers could be influenced by a number of factors, including that there is no gubernatorial race this year, that there will be a heated election between Liz Cheney and Harriet Hageman in 2022, that many people voted by mail during the pandemic, and that voter registration laws have changed.

Updated by Madelyn Beck

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04:25 am | Still making your choice? Check out WyoFile’s voting guide.

It’s primary day in Wyoming, and if you’re still doing your homework, WyoFile can help. Our voting guide includes questions and answers from dozens of congressional and legislative candidates from across Wyoming. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Don’t know where to vote? The Wyoming Department of State’s polling place locator can help.

Updated by Joshua Wolfson