Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray has been at the forefront of the battles for election integrity in America for years, recently testifying before the House Committee on Administration about his work implementing proof of citizenship and voter ID in Wyoming.

“The hearing was just wonderful, and it was really great to engage in a conversation about Wyoming being a leader on these issues, and how these common sense election integrity measures that over 90 percent of Americans support, are implemented,” Gray told the Washington Reporter in an interview. “They are more than implementable. They are very easy to implement. And that’s what I want. That’s one of the things that I spoke to, and I want to continue to speak to: Wyoming has been a leader on these issues…. We have implemented proof of citizenship for registering to vote. We have implemented voter ID.”

While Gray said that Rep. Bryan Steil (R., Wis.), who chairs the House Admin Committee, is “just an incredible person,” he added that the committee’s Democrats were “out of control…with histrionics. They were refusing to allow us to answer the questions and they were saying things that out of context and that weren’t factual. They were grasping at straws for some narrative, because they don’t want this bill that over 90 percent of Americans support.”

“They’ve got quite a task in front of them, the Democrats, because they’ve been taken over by the radical left, but we have really been at the forefront on this issue,” Gray said. “For two years in a row, the U.S. House has passed the SAVE Act, so now we need that action from the Senate. I’m excited that Senator John Thune has committed to bringing that up for a vote.”

Gray’s wins on election integrity priorities have at times required him to butt heads with some in his own party, like Gov. Mark Gordon (R., Wyo.). “We actually started talking about this in 2023 before it was really at the forefront,” Gray said. “And we did a rule-making in Wyoming in late 2023 to put into our registration rules a form of proof of citizenship for registering to vote, and our governor actually vetoed that in April of 2024, but we didn’t give up. We went to the legislature in the 2025 session and got it through, and that became the first ironclad proof of citizenship requirement in the nation that applied to all elections because we have an National Voter Registration Act exemption, we have been able to apply our proof of citizenship requirement to all elections.”

But, Gray noted, that wasn’t easy. “We really had the first ironclad one that we passed in 2025, even though the governor still refused to sign it,” he said. “Luckily, the Wyoming State Constitution says that if a governor refuses to sign a bill, the bill still becomes law without his signature after a period of time. So we really worked to shepherd that through, and it is really important that we bring the SAVE Act through at the federal level, and adding in voter ID, which is near and dear to my heart, is very important. When I was in the legislature in 2021, I was the lead sponsor on voter ID in Wyoming.”

Following the implementation of these election integrity measures, Democratic elections attorney Marc Elias immediately sued. Because “nobody” in Wyoming was disenfranchised by the measures Elias’s lawsuit was thrown out in court, Gray said.

“Marc Elias could find no plaintiff and no individual” who was harmed, Gray said. “Their plaintiff was this organization which, of course, can’t vote. It’s one of these radical left wing organizations that tries to fight every single election integrity measure that we do. That was the plaintiff in that case, and that’s ultimately how we got it dismissed. It was on standing, because they could not find a single plaintiff that was ‘disenfranchised’ by this law.”

While Gray has been on the front lines of encouraging Congress to pass the SAVE Act for years, he told the Reporter that Steil’s MEGA Act “is also great.” He cited a series of provisions that he supports, including the “pen to paper ballots. It has the Election Day deadline, because there are 19 states that allow ballot receipt after the day of the election. It makes it clear that the deadline for receipt of ballots is Election Day. It really strengthens voter list maintenance. It bans ballot harvesting. It bans ranked choice voting. It bans universal vote by mail, and it bans Biden Bucks and Zuck Bucks.”

Gray also serves as Wyoming’s lieutenant governor — and while he may not be top of mind for many in Congress now, he is running to succeed Rep. Harriet Hageman (R., Wyo.), who is viewed as a shoe-in to serve as Wyoming’s next senator. Gray told the Reporter that his campaign for Congress is “going great.”

“We’ve got the polling lead,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of momentum. I have won statewide before.”

Below is a transcript of our interview with Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray, lightly edited for clarity.

Washington Reporter:

Secretary Gray, the SAVE Act is something that you’ve been a supporter of for years. Why has this been a priority for you as Wyoming’s Secretary of State?

Secretary Chuck Gray:

Proof of citizenship for registering to vote has been a huge priority for quite some time. We actually started talking about this in 2023 before it was really at the forefront. And we did a rule-making in Wyoming in late 2023 to put into our registration rules a form of proof of citizenship for registering to vote, and our governor actually vetoed that in April of 2024, but we didn’t give up. We went to the legislature in the 2025 session and got it through, and that became the first ironclad proof of citizenship requirement in the nation that applied to all elections because we have an National Voter Registration Act exemption, we have been able to apply our proof of citizenship requirement to all elections. New Hampshire, a few months before we passed it, kind of had a proof of citizenship requirement, and they’re also NVRA-exempt. But that one had a bunch of outs where the election judges can basically take any document they want. We really had the first ironclad one that we passed in 2025, even though the governor still refused to sign it. Luckily, the Wyoming State Constitution says that if a governor refuses to sign a bill, the bill still becomes law without his signature after a period of time. So we really worked to shepherd that through, and it is really important that we bring the SAVE Act through at the federal level, and adding in voter ID, which is near and dear to my heart, is very important. When I was in the legislature in 2021, I was the lead sponsor on voter ID in Wyoming. That’s actually the bill that really got me involved in election integrity issues. It’s really exciting that we have the add-on now with voter ID; these are both very important common sense election integrity measures that have over 90 percent support from Americans. It’s just this radical left that is trying to stop these common sense measures. We saw it in the hearing on the Hill that I just testified in, where you just had these out of control Democrats with histrionics. They were refusing to allow us to answer the questions and they were saying things that out of context and that weren’t factual. They were grasping at straws for some narrative, because they don’t want this bill that over 90 percent of Americans support. They’ve got quite a task in front of them, the Democrats, because they’ve been taken over by the radical left, but we have really been at the forefront on this issue. I think it’s really important. I think it’s great that we have the add-on for voter ID. For two years in a row, the U.S. House has passed the SAVE Act, so now we need that action from the Senate. I’m excited that Senator John Thune has committed to bringing that up for a vote.

Washington Reporter:

What is your message to Republicans who are not on board with this, and what lessons did you take from having to go against your own party in Wyoming to pass the state version of these measures?

Secretary Chuck Gray:

You have this section of this insider group in the Republican Party that is very liberal, that is not MAGA, and they’ve to some extent been either fighting this. In Wyoming, they fought this. At the federal level, it took some time to get some of those folks on board, but we are happy now that most of them are on board. Of course we see that Lisa Murkowski is just out of control and saying that she is going to vote no on this. We don’t have everybody on board yet, but the reality is that Americans support this bill because it’s common sense. In Wyoming to get the proof of citizenship, you go to the Department of Motor Vehicles, you fill out the application. It’s very simple. If you have a hardship, you can check a box and the fee is waived. Congressman Steil also wants a similar provision in the MEGA Act. It’s just very simple to attain the necessary mode of identification. The golden oldie of voter suppression that the radical left keeps putting out there is a song that they think you want to hear, but you really don’t, is just false. It’s very easy to obtain this identification. Americans understand that you need to have some of these upfront security measures to secure the most important part of our republic, which is our elections.

Washington Reporter:

How has this has been implemented in Wyoming? And what have you seen with turnout since these measures have gone into effect? 

Secretary Chuck Gray:

Marc Elias sued us in the beginning of 2025; he is a leftist goon. Rep. Joe Morelle was upset that that was in some of the written testimony. But that’s what we are up against. They are trying to undo the will of the people through their popularly elected legislators, through the court system, and through radical judges, and trying to forum shop. We were sued by Marc Elias. We successfully defended that lawsuit. We hired the Dhillon Law Group. They did a great job in defending our proof of citizenship law. We had a bond election last year. That was the one election in the off year. That was our first election since it went into effect in 2025. Now, we’re preparing for the first statewide election here in 2026, but it’s been very smooth. We have all the necessary procedures in place with the Department of Transportation, where when you receive a Wyoming driver’s license, the citizenship check has occurred when that license is attained. So that license is acceptable for identification, for purposes of citizenship, and so getting out there with education and outreach is one of the things we’re working on now, and we’re excited about that as part of the 2026 cycle, and getting the word out there on these election integrity measures that are in effect.

Washington Reporter:

You are a statewide elected official. You’ve run statewide. You are running statewide. Has anyone in Wyoming come up to you and said, ‘I am not able to get a photo ID’?

Secretary Chuck Gray:

No, nobody, nobody. And that’s a great point. That was the ultimate ruling in our case, which was that Marc Elias could find no plaintiff and no individual. Their plaintiff was this organization which, of course, can’t vote. It’s one of these radical left wing organizations that tries to fight every single election integrity measure that we do. That was the plaintiff in that case, and that’s ultimately how we got it dismissed. It was on standing, because they could not find a single plaintiff that was ‘disenfranchised’ by this law.

Washington Reporter:

Most Republicans are on board with the SAVE Act. But it seemed that initially there was some hesitation from Republicans to have a federal angle for state-run elections. How did you overcome that potential hurdle?

Secretary Chuck Gray:

We’ve really been a leader on the importance of these baseline standards. Look at the NVRA. These are laws that passed in the United States Congress, and the Constitution is very clear that there is a role there, and I really believe in these baseline standards. This is one of the reasons why I’ve really been out there; it’s important for conservative secretaries to lead on that point, on the need for us to have these uniform baseline standards across the United States of America. The reality is that California banned voter ID. Not only do they not institute voter ID, they banned voter ID. They banned municipalities or political subdivisions from having a voter ID requirement. From a practical standpoint, in order for us to get these election integrity measures, we’re going to need to have these baseline standards at the federal level. It is very important to note that this is enforcing federal law and the Constitution, because you have to be a citizen to vote, and so this is enforcing that standard. And so that’s a very important point to make on these baseline standards that are in these bills.

Washington Reporter:

Broadening it out here, there’s the SAVE Act, there’s the SAVE America Act, and there’s the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act. How do you think about the other ones?

Secretary Chuck Gray:

With the Save America Act, I love the name. President Trump is just awesome and I think the name is awesome, and then adding in voter ID, I think proof of citizenship and voter ID, there is this broad, over 90 percent consensus. There’s consensus on all these issues, but I think the SAVE AMERICA Act is really it. I’m very excited about it. And adding in the voter ID, I think is really important. The MEGA Act is also great, and it has a number of other provisions in there. It has the pen to paper ballots. It has the Election Day deadline, because there are 19 states that allow ballot receipt after the day of the election. It makes it clear that the deadline for receipt of ballots is Election Day. It really strengthens voter list maintenance. It bans ballot harvesting. It bans ranked choice voting. It bans universal vote by mail, and it bans Biden Bucks and Zuck Bucks. It has more provisions in there, but all of them are important, and I’m really excited about the passage of the Save America Act with proof of citizenship for registering to vote in the addition of voter ID.

Washington Reporter:

You keep talking about the polling on this issue, and even the least favorable polls show 80 percent support for provisions like what you’re talking about, including from majorities of Democrats and of every single racial group. Democratic leaders, including the people who were at the hearing you were at, are completely out of step with all available public polling evidence. What do you think explains that disconnect on their end?

Secretary Chuck Gray:

How radicalized the modern day Democrat Party has gotten; it has been just totally coopted by the radical left, and that’s where they’re at now. And this is just another example of how radical the Democrat Party is.

Washington Reporter:

One of their points with the SAVE Act, for example, is that women who get married are not going to be able to vote. Black people are not able to get IDs. What do you make of those objections that have been made? 

Secretary Chuck Gray:

Well, first, it’s just so condescending. It’s very important to note how condescending these claims by the Democrats are. Recently, Elissa Slotkin goes on Fox News and makes these claims about maiden names not being allowed for proof of citizenship for registering to vote. I want to ask Slotkin or any of these Democrats to show us one provision in the SAVE Act, or the Save America Act, that stops maiden names from being allowed for proof of citizenship for registering to vote. One provision in there, they’re not going to find it. They’ve been unable to supply any of the plain text. This came up in the hearing. In the other versions, it was very clear that maiden names could be used, but now they’re explicitly saying in these bills that an attestation can be done for the purposes of maiden names. But the reality was, all of these versions, there was not a single provision that would prevent a maiden name from being allowed for proof of citizenship, for registering to vote. 

Washington Reporter:

Let’s end with the hearing. How did you find that it went? You’re running for Wyoming’s at-large district. How is that going in your bid to be on the other side of the table as soon as January?

Secretary Chuck Gray:

Well, it’s going great. We’ve got the polling lead. We’ve got a lot of momentum. I have won statewide before. Of course, the Secretary of State also serves as the lieutenant governor, Wyoming’s second in command, because we’re one of the five states that has that in our state constitution. The hearing was just wonderful, and it was really great to engage in a conversation about Wyoming being a leader on these issues, and how these common sense election integrity measures that over 90 percent of Americans support, are implemented. They are more than implementable. They are very easy to implement. And that’s what I want. That’s one of the things that I spoke to, and I want to continue to speak to: Wyoming has been a leader on these issues. We’ve gotten most of them done, although there is more to go. Just recently, if you want to talk about insiders, left-wing RINOs, stopping bills in the state legislature, we weren’t able to get introduction on a paper ballot requirement and also on a ban on ballot harvesting, because Democrats and insiders joined together to stop the introduction of the bill. There’s continued work that we’re doing, but Wyoming has been a leader on these issues, and that’s one of the reasons why I was asked to speak, which was that we have implemented proof of citizenship for registering to vote. We have implemented voter ID. And I’ve been on the front lines on this as the lead on voter ID and 2021 as a legislator, and then leading on the proof of citizenship requirement in 2024 and 2025 and that’s one of the big things I wanted to speak to. It just was another slice of life, another example of how radical the Democrats have gotten. They were just out of control. They really would not allow questions to be answered, which is disappointing, but not surprising, but disappointing, but I still think the conversation was important. Bringing to light these issues is so important. I really appreciated the opportunity from the House Admin Committee, they’ve been great to work with over the years. Chairman Steil is just an incredible person, and I always enjoy the back and forth too. It was great to engage in the back and forth with the radical left and show just how radical they’ve gotten. And I hope to be doing that more in the coming year as hopefully a member of the United States Congress. I am working really hard to take this to the finish line.

Washington Reporter:

Secretary Gray, thanks so much for chatting.