CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray shared a threatening voicemail he received accusing him of meddling with election integrity.
The caller says he “saw an article about you trying to do something with the election.” The caller says, “I want you to listen when I tell you that you’re playing with fire,” and later that Gray should “watch his back.” The caller claims it wouldn’t be him, because he is not a violent person, but “it’s going to be someone like me.”
“False media reporting incites individuals like this.” Gray said in a statement on Thursday shared with Oil City News. “I reported this to the authorities and I thank the Highway Patrol (which has oversight of security of the Capitol), the FBI, and local law enforcement for their work on the case.”
“I received this threatening message because of our work defending election integrity,” Gray wrote. “For months now, the media and insiders have been pushing claims that somehow conservatives lack civility without looking at any of their own behavior. This is how the radical Left, the media, and insiders now operate.”
The timing coincides with a WyoFile story, later shared by Oil City News, related to Gray’s Aug. 12. letter to Wyoming county clerks requesting redos of voting machines, which are required at least two weeks before an election.
The Wyofile report says the complaint has resulted in a Wyoming Republican Party lawsuit seeking an injunction ahead of the election. Officials quoted say the suit is meant to disrupt the primary election and force a hand-count of ballots. Gray has also endorsed claims that the 2020 presidential election was illegitimate, claims which are widely discredited.
“The various claims of evidence alleging a stolen 2020 election have been exhaustively investigated and litigated” the Campaign Legal Center said. “Judges heard claims of illegal voting and found they were without merit.”
Gray said that multiple counties were in violation of the requirement in Wyoming Statute 22-11-104 (b)(iii) that a different number of votes be assigned to each candidate when running the tests. Statute provides that party representatives be present for the tests. Gray said that the concerns were brought to his attention by citizens.
“This requirement is not just a formality,” Gray wrote in his letter to the clerks. “It is crucial to ensuring that the electronic voting machines are accurately counting and tabulating the votes for each candidate when the actual ballots are tabulated on election night.”
Gray said he is also requesting summary reports pertaining to how the clerks carried out the original tests.
“The article falsely alleged that I requested a retest of every machine in the state, when I actually requested a retest of machines that were not tested properly under Wyoming State law,” Gray wrote. “I’m working to protect the election by ensuring the machines are retested according to Wyoming State law, but the media lies about a clearly written letter.”
Gray said that the editors eventually made a correction at his request, but added that the articles in syndication don’t always get updated.
Oil City News has reached out to WyoFile editors for comment on the matter.
