SWEETWATER COUNTY – For those thinking about changing their political affiliations to vote for a specific candidate in the August Primary Election, there’s a new deadline to be aware of.
Due to legislation passed in 2023, voters have until May 15 at 5 p.m. to change their party affiliation with the Sweetwater County Clerk’s Office. If a registered voter misses the deadline, they won’t be able to change their affiliation until after the primary election. New voters will be able to declare their political affiliation at any time, including if they register to vote during Primary Election Day. The crossover voting ban was legislation backed by former President Donald Trump, but was unable to see passage in the Wyoming Legislature until 2023.
The legislation targets perceived issues with crossover voting, where voters change their political affiliation during a primary election to influence the outcome of another party’s primary. While primaries in Wyoming are used to cut a nonpartisan race down to two final candidates for the general election, primaries are largely partisan and are the main process parties use to finalize their candidates.
Sweetwater County Clerk Cindy Lane said there hasn’t been a lot of activity in her office regarding affiliation changes, saying a few voters have come in to do it, but not many. She said many of the voters who changed from Democrat to Republican for the 2022 primary did not change back afterward.
“I think they saw the writing on the wall,” Lane said.
As the GOP has gained increasing influence in Sweetwater County politics, the primaries have become the de facto election for many races in previous election cycles as fewer Democrats have sought election to county offices. For example, the 2022 races for three county commissioner seats, county coroner, county attorney, county clerk, county assessor and clerk of district court were decided during the primary election. With the exception of the county coroner election, the Republican primary decided those races as Sweetwater County Coroner Dale Majhanovich and then Sweetwater County Treasurer Joe Barbuto were the only Democrats who filed for election to Sweetwater County offices. The election for Sweetwater County Sheriff continued because independent candidate Chris Sutton received enough support to file prior to the November General Election.
Crossover voting came front and center during the 2022 primary for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House of Representatives seat. Incumbent Liz Cheney’s campaign actively courted Wyoming’s Democrats in a bid to stave off Harriet Hageman’s challenge. Despite that attempt, Cheney would lose to Hageman, carrying only Teton and Albany Counties in the election.
