Secretary of State Certifies Wyoming Promise’s Initiative

Press Release – This week Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Murray certified a Wyoming ballot initiative sponsored and authored by the organization Wyoming Promise. Wyoming Promise’s ballot initiative is titled: “An Act to Promote Free and Fair Elections.” A ballot initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can bring about a public vote on a proposed law.

The Constitution of the State of Wyoming and Wyoming’s State Statutes describe the process for proposing an initiative.

“Our Office is proud to administer the initiative process, which allows proposed legislation to be placed directly in the hands of citizens themselves. Now the organizers of the initiative will have 18 months to collect signatures which must equal at least 15 percent of the total number of votes cast in the 2016 General Election. This amounts to 38,818 signatures required,” said Secretary of State Ed Murray.

The Secretary of State’s Office maintains complete neutrality regarding the content of this or any other initiative. Secretary Murray’s final certification of this initiative comes after organizers worked directly with his Office in a multi-step process which concluded today, after organizers submitted the signatures of 216 sponsors in the final step before certification.

With certification complete, signature gathering may commence once petition packets, including signature forms and copies of the Act, are turned over to the committee of applicants by the Secretary of State’s Office.

“The required signatures must also be obtained proportionally from 15 percent of resident voters in at least 16 of Wyoming’s 23 counties. If this criteria is met, the Act will be placed on the 2018 General Election Ballot and the final outcome of this initiative will be decided by the citizens of Wyoming,” said State Election Director Kai Schon.