Weston County GOP convention approves most bylaws updates; separate vote set for Second Amendment wording

Delegates at the Weston County Republican Party county convention approved a bulk package of bylaws changes Saturday, but agreed to postpone a separate vote on a contested edit that replaces an explicit mention of the Second Amendment with support for the entire U.S. Constitution and the Wyoming Constitution.

The bylaws committee presented the package and explained several substantive edits, including a requirement that anyone running for county chair, vice chair, state committee member, secretary or treasurer be a registered Republican as of Jan. 1 of the odd-numbered year before election; a restoration of quorum language requiring at least four attendees and either the chair or vice chair present; and a new restriction that proxy votes may be used only for agenda items published for that designated meeting. The committee also proposed that candidate survey responses be published prior to the primary, changing the language from "may" to "shall." (Committee member.)

The committee member who presented the report said the change from singling out the Second Amendment to referring to the whole U.S. and Wyoming constitutions was motivated in part by recent state law changes and a desire to emphasize the broader constitutional framework. "We decided not necessarily to emphasize that because it wasn't just as focused on that," the committee member said. The Chair objected that the broader wording could be perceived as "watering down" explicit support for the Second Amendment: "If we put the whole constitution in there... it's not really supporting the Second Amendment because it's so watered down," the Chair said. Delegates agreed to highlight that line for a separate vote at a later point.

On publication and transparency, the committee removed language that would have allowed the executive committee to exclude candidate responses from the county website and replaced it with a requirement to publish responses prior to the primary; the committee said county parties without websites must provide a paper copy at the chair or secretary's discretion so voters can review responses.

After discussion and the removal of the contested line for later consideration, a motion to approve the remaining packaged edits was made and passed by voice vote. The convention then moved on to accept floor motions and other business.

The committee preserved implementation details such as allowing a midterm appointee to begin voting at the next meeting provided they have been in office at least three days before that meeting, language restored from prior county bylaws on quorum, and the proxy-limitations tied to published agenda items.

The convention did not record a roll-call tally for the bylaw package vote; the Chair announced the motion carried by voice vote. The contested Second Amendment wording will be considered separately at a later time.