Part 2… Voter ID
Wyoming is undeniably conservative and deeply Republican – it has been since before it became a state. But there’s another side to its history, one shaped by frontier life and a culture of cooperation, which gave rise to both the ‘rugged individualism’ we associate with modern conservatism and a strong streak of community-minded progressivism. In other words, the state embodies both of its nicknames – The Equality State and The Cowboy State – in ways that can be surprising. This is the first part of a series exploring how life in Wyoming isn’t the purely conservative haven you might expect. And yes, ‘more liberal than you think’ is admittedly a low bar.
There’s a persistent meme in conservative circles suggesting that liberals want to organize voter fraud. It’s not true. Voter fraud – particularly voter impersonation, the only kind that voter ID laws would theoretically prevent – is practically non-existent. The real issue with voter ID laws isn’t the requirement to show ID; it’s which IDs are considered valid.
In Texas, for example, the list of acceptable IDs was strategically crafted to include types common among white, conservative voters – like concealed carry licenses – while excluding those more likely to be held by Democrats, such as student IDs. Wyoming, however, went a different route.
Wyoming enacted its voter ID law in 2021, but its list of accepted IDs is broader than Texas’s, including student IDs and even Medicare and Medicaid cards (though the latter will only be valid until 2029). Tribal ID cards are also acceptable, addressing a demographic often disenfranchised by stricter voter ID laws. In fact, I struggled to think of an ID that Wyoming liberals would want on the list that isn’t already there.
To be clear, there was never any credible concern about voter fraud in Wyoming. The law was largely performative, a way for conservatives to feel they were ‘doing something’ about election security. In Texas, voter ID laws were ostensibly about election integrity but effectively served as a voter suppression tactic. In Wyoming, the intent was similar – but the outcome was more inclusive, whether by design or accident.
You can read more about the voter ID law and the list of accepted IDs on the Wyoming Secretary of State’s website: Wyoming Voter ID Information
