EVANSTON — The 2020 election cycle for candidates running for local and state offices officially began on Thursday, May 14, when the 15-day candidate filing period opened. A press release from Wyoming Secretary of State Edward Buchanan stated, “All Republican and Democratic candidates for the office of U.S. Senator, U.S. Representatives, Wyoming State Senator and Wyoming State Representative must file with the Secretary of State’s Election Division in order to stand for election in the 2020 Primary Election, which will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 18. Candidates for county and municipal offices must file with their local office.”

Buchanan spoke about the upcoming elections during a press conference with Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon on Wednesday, May 13, at which time he highlighted some of the steps being taken as part of the “Vote Safely Wyoming” initiative to balance voter safety during the COVID-19 pandemic with the need to ensure a fair and secure election.

Buchanan emphasized early in-person and absentee voting will again be options for Wyoming voters this year, which have been available to voters throughout the state for decades. Those wishing an absentee ballot will need to contact the county clerk’s office to have a ballot mailed to them once ballots are available. Buchanan stressed that although absentee voting does involve sending ballots through the mail it is not the same as the voting by mail that occurs in several other states because voters need to request an absentee ballot in Wyoming while in other states ballots are automatically mailed to all registered voters.

The Secretary of State’s Office will be mailing out informative flyers to Wyoming voters during the month of May to explain voting options and provide contact information to request absentee ballots or additional information.

Buchanan said there have been adaptations made to voting this year to allow counties to have some flexibility in determining best measures to keep voters safe, including allowing extended date windows for early in-person voting and the option to change or add official polling places to avoid crowding and ensure social distancing measures are able to be implemented.

Additionally, Buchanan said the state had invested in other supplies to protect both voters and poll workers, including personal protective equipment such as face masks and hand sanitizer to have available on site at polling locations. “Our goal here is to have elections as normal as possible while maintaining the safety of our poll workers, county clerks and their staff and, of course, our Wyoming citizens,” said Buchanan.

Due to a $5 million investment in voting equipment from the Wyoming Legislature, Buchanan said all 23 counties had received new voting equipment to replace voting machines that were many years old.

During the Wednesday press conference, Buchanan encouraged people to run for public office, saying, “I know that perhaps in the challenging times we face with regard to COVID-19, folks may be reluctant to be involved in public service or run for public office, but I would encourage you to look into it… I encourage everybody to be involved.”

Now that the filing period has officially begun, a list of candidates who have filed to run for state office will be posted by 5 p.m. daily at the Secretary of State’s website at https://sos.wyo.gov/Elections/Docs/2018/WY_Primary_Election_Candidates.pdf. Local candidate lists can be found at the Uinta County Elections page at https://www.uintacounty.com/DocumentCenter/View/6802/2020-Primary-Election-Candidates.