Secretary of State Ed Buchanan sets out to dispel election fraud myths

Former President Donald Trump won bigger in Wyoming than any other state in 2020. But there are those who still believe fraud occurred here during the last election.

Secretary of State Ed Buchanan, Wyoming chief elections official, is setting out to dispel the myth of election fraud in Wyoming, and says he is planning to eventually throw some money behind the effort.

At the Natrona County Republican State Central Committee meeting on Monday, Buchanan gave a 45-minute presentation seeking to debunk four major myths about Wyoming’s 2020 elections:

Myth No. 1: Wyoming elections were rigged; the election results were inaccurate, and the election was not conducted with integrity.

Buchanan denied every aspect of this statement.

Myth No. 2: Wyoming machines were connected to the internet, which means the results can be hacked.

“We are not connected to the internet in any way,” Buchanan told the room.

Myth No. 3: The state’s machines can still be physically breached even though they’re not connected to the internet.

While he acknowledged that such a scenario is possible, Buchanan explained that state takes various steps to prevent that from happening, including using tamper seals and keeping equipment under lock and key.

Myth No. 4: Wyoming uses Dominion Voting Systems, which were the subject of conspiracy theories by some of Trump’s allies including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Prior to 2020, only three Wyoming counties used Dominion voting machines: Goshen, Laramie and Carbon. The entire state now uses ES&S equipment, Buchanan said.

Buchanan told the committee he is working with the University of Wyoming to put into place audits on portions of ballots in all of Wyoming’s 23 counties to restore and maintain voters’ confidence in the 2022 elections. It’s unclear how much this effort will cost.

Before Election Day 2020 had even arrived, Trump started questioning the validity of the future outcome. He claimed without evidence that his rightful votes were stolen and given to President Joe Biden. After the results showed he’d lost, Trump challenged the results in various courts 62 times and was defeated in 61 of those.

The large majority of the lawsuits occurred in six crucial battleground states that Biden won: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Buchanan kept his focus on Wyoming. There was no reason for concern here, he said.

“[Elections] are not routine anymore because of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation. Now its easy to cry foul with no real evidence, at least in Wyoming,” Buchanan said.

Buchanan gave the same type of presentation to the entire Republican State Central Committee a couple months back. The reception has been “a little tepid,” Buchanan said. “People still maintain their skepticism.”

The same was true for the Natrona County meeting, which brought 41 guests, far more than usual.

“I think it’s a little bit of misplaced confidence when you say it can’t be hacked,” said one of the guests. “It’s always possible for it to be hacked.”

Buchanan didn’t deny that.

“Anything’s possible, not probable,” he said.

Chirps also came from one of the back corners of the room whenever Buchanan would mention the counties that used to use Dominion machines.

The secretary of state been invited to a handful of other counties to deliver his presentation.

“This is really all we can do at this point,” he said afterward.

*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from KPVI News 6 can be found here ***