Wyoming’s Republican governor, Mark Gordon, raised concerns at a state canvassing board meeting on Wednesday about the behavior of two Justice Department Civil Rights Division attorneys who were dispatched to Laramie County to observe the recent primary election. Gordon described the observers’ conduct as “aggressive” and said the state’s attorney general had not been notified in advance of the federal presence.
Governor’s request for an inquiry
“It sounded like the behavior of the observers was a bit aggressive,” Gordon told the board. “It just was irregular, and I have asked the attorney general to start looking into the nature of the visits and all that sort of stuff.” The governor emphasized that he is not opposed to election monitors in principle, but believes the federal agents exceeded the authority granted to them by Congress.
DOJ response
When contacted for comment, the Justice Department referred CNN to an August 18 statement from Wyoming U.S. Attorney Darin Smith, which stressed that “voters deserve absolute confidence that their ballots are secure and their voices are heard without interference.” Smith added that the department is working with local officials to protect every lawful vote.
Scope of the federal monitoring effort
The Justice Department has deployed more than 80 monitors to seven states for this year’s primary elections and plans to send roughly 1,000 observers to polling sites nationwide in November. The monitors are part of a long‑standing federal practice intended to safeguard election integrity, a practice the Trump administration has defended as consistent with decades‑old policy.
Political backdrop
Gordon’s criticism comes amid ongoing remarks from President Donald Trump, who continues to question the legitimacy of elections. Earlier this year, Trump alleged cheating in the Los Angeles mayoral primary and has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. Democrats and voting‑rights groups have warned that the expanded federal monitoring could be used to sow doubt about the voting process.
Local reaction
While Gordon praised the overall conduct of the Wyoming primary as “phenomenal,” he expressed unease about federal officials entering the state’s polling places without prior coordination. “I don’t like the federal government coming in and taking our votes,” he said.
The governor’s request for an investigation underscores a broader tension between state sovereignty and federal oversight of elections, a theme that resonates with Wyoming’s tradition of limited government and local control.
Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.
