The Wyoming Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisons Committee has put HB 173 on its agenda for February 14, Friday, at 7:30 a.m. This is the bill that increases the independent statewide independent candidate petition requirement from 2% to 3% of the last U.S. House vote, and raises the independent petition for legislative candidates from 2% to 5%. It also moves the independent petition filing deadline from August to June. It has already passed the House.

Wyoming already has the nation’s most severe petition for presidential candidates running outside the major parties, on a percentage basis. Furthermore, it only had three presidential candidates on the ballot in November 2024. Forty-seven states had at least four presidential candidates on the ballot.