August 28, 2026 · Information Integrity, Press & Democratic Norms
· Investigation
Well supported
Wyoming's Republican Governor Asks His Attorney General to Investigate the DOJ Election Monitors Sent to Cheyenne Unannounced
Gov. Mark Gordon said he has asked Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz to look into the conduct of two Justice Department Civil Rights Division attorneys who monitored the Aug. 18 primary in Laramie County, which includes Cheyenne. Gordon said state officials, including the attorney general, were not told in advance, called the observers' behavior "a bit aggressive" and "irregular," and said it "seemed to exceed what the authority that Congress had given them was." He added that he is not opposed to monitors and that the election was well run.
A Republican governor asking his own attorney general to examine federal election observers is an unusual state-federal friction point, arriving as the department scales the program up sharply before November.
The Justice Department pointed to an Aug. 18 statement from U.S. Attorney Darin Smith saying monitors are there so voters can trust their ballots are secure. The department says it sent more than 80 monitors to seven states for primaries this year and plans about 1,000 in November.
A Republican governor asking his own attorney general to examine federal election observers is an unusual state-federal friction point, arriving as the department scales the program up sharply before November.
The Justice Department pointed to an Aug. 18 statement from U.S. Attorney Darin Smith saying monitors are there so voters can trust their ballots are secure. The department says it sent more than 80 monitors to seven states for primaries this year and plans about 1,000 in November.