The Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners took care of several points of business during their last meeting of the year on Tuesday, including hearing a presentation about election integrity and an update on the county's comments to the Bureau of Land Management concerning the Resource Management Plan (RMP) draft for the Rock Springs Field Office.
Election integrity
The commissioners heard an "election integrity proposal" from members of the group Cause of Wyoming, which is asking for Wyoming to return to a paper ballot and hand-count system in elections. Jeff Ramaj, Greg Penfold, Donna Guillen, and Cause of Wyoming President Patty Junek spoke to the commissioners.
"We want you to understand that we are going after the technology, not the people that run the elections," Ramaj said. "There is a problem with the machines."
Ramaj and the other speakers shared their concerns over the possibility of election machines being hackable and the possibility of technology being used to change the outcome of elections.
"We're asking you to take the appropriate steps to restore voter confidence by rejecting the use of machine technology and returning our elections to the hand of our people," Guillen said.
Commissioner Mary Thoman pointed out that Wyoming does use paper ballots and has paper poll books along with the technology that is used.
Commissioner Island Richards agreed, adding that Wyoming voters don't use screens on machines to cast their votes. Richards also noted that one of the main concerns brought forward by the presenters was that voting machines must be connected to the internet because it can't be proven that they're not, which Richards said is an appeal to ignorance, which is a logical fallacy.
"That presentation had so many logical fallacies in it that it's hard to take seriously," Richards said.
Both Richards and Chairman Keaton West also pointed out the possibility and concern of human error or bias impacting elections.
"We're creating a false dichotomy here that the only options we have is an electronic election or a hand-counted paper ballot election," Richards said. "What we do have is an electronic-counted system with back-up paper ballots, back-up paper poll books, and people watching the system the whole way."
RMP comments
The commissioners heard another update from Sweetwater County Land Use Director Eric Bingham about the county's comments on the BLM's resource management draft plan.
During their December 5 meeting, the commissioners had a more extensive conversation with Bingham to compare the maps of the changes under the draft's four proposed alternatives. In particular, they focused on the increase in Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs) and similar special designations, showing how much land they would take up and the restrictions they would impose.
"With the BLM throwing out a plan that just protects everything, then nothing is special," Commissioner Richards said, adding "You don't protect something by putting a fence around it and saying nobody can go there anymore."
During the December 19 meeting, Bingham told the commissioners that he, County Attorney John DeLeon, and Coalition of Local Governments Attorney Danielle Bettencourt are continuing to meet and develop comments for the county.
They are focusing on following the right format for comments in order to have standing during the protest period. They are also working to point out code violations and policy violations from the BLM and stating the potential harms and impacts, both environmental and socio-economic.
"The other thing that we have added to this that we're feeling we're having strong legal standing based on evidence we have found is a failure to coordinate with cooperating agencies in changing from preferred Alternative D to B," Bingham said, adding that there are policies requiring the BLM to meet and work with cooperators.
Commissioner Taylor Jones and Chairman West are both on Governor Gordon's task force for the RMP, and they reported on the task force having its first all-day meeting recently.
The deadline for public comment on the RMP draft is January 17.
Other business
During the December 19 meeting the commissioners heard from Planning and Zoning for a notice of intent hearing for language amendments to zoning resolutions to allow for higher density residential subdivisions. Land Use Director Bingham explained that some language changes were needed due to concerns over housing in the state and wanting to make plans to try to better address and prepare for upcoming housing needs.
During commissioner comments, Commissioner Robb Slaughter pointed out that Castle Rock Hospital District is a "recurring issue" the commissioners face as they receive emails and calls from disgruntled former employees and staff. Both he and Chairman West agreed it would be good to have more discussion on the concerns, with West saying it might be wise to have a workshop with the Board.
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