Poll position

The county intends to return to normal practice for this year’s elections, with polling locations back where they can usually be found. Several were moved during the 2020 elections due to the need for social distancing and a state-directed limit on the number of polling stations that could be open per county.

However, with the lifting of Wyoming’s emergency declaration, rearranging polling stations is not considered a necessary step for 2022.

A total of six polling locations were moved in 2020, some to the basement of the courthouse in Sundance. This included Beulah, Aladdin and Elmore.

Aladdin will be moving back to the Aladdin Community Building, while Elmore voters will once again be directed to the Barton Ranch Voting Booth. Beulah’s polling location will be in its new home at the Northeast Wyoming Welcome Center.

The welcome center was chosen as the new location before the last elections, due to a water leak in the roof of the community building.

“During an election, a portion of the ceiling in the entryway fell down. Luckily, no one was under it,” says County Clerk Linda Fritz.

“That led me to look at other issues with the building, such as the basement walls.”

Another significant issue found was water leaking onto the electrical panel. Fritz decided to move the polling station until the problems could be fixed.

“We had planned [to use the community center] for 2020 until the pandemic changed that,” says Fritz.

Meanwhile, with county voters using the courthouse basement, Sundance voters were moved to the old elementary school for the 2020 elections. For this year’s election cycle, Sundance Inside North, Sundance Inside South and Sundance Outside will all be moving back to the courthouse basement.

The changes will be considered by the county commissioners on May 3 at 2:30 p.m. and may be adopted by the county clerk at the same meeting.