Federal judge finds Wyoming’s campaign disclosure and disclaimer requirements violate First Amendment

Order granting in part motion for summary judgment by a Wyoming federal district court in Wyoming Gun Owners v. Buchanon, a case building on Americans for Prosperity v. Bonta (and as applied to the plaintiffs in this case):

WyGO is required to disclose similar information, including the “name of the person from whom received or to whom paid” any donation relating to an electioneering communication, a notable similarity to the disclosures in Americans for Prosperity. See § 22-25-106(h)(v). However, in Americans for Prosperity[,] California did not have the same substantial interest in dispelling election corruption, as Wyoming has in this case.

Wyoming has a sufficiently important governmental interest in knowing who is speaking about a candidate before election. “[A] well informed electorate is as vital to the survival of a democracy as air is to the survival of human Iife[.]” Gaspee Project v. Mederos, 13 F.4th 79, 95 (1st Cir. 2021). The fact that WyGO holds a particular interest in the “issue” of gun ownership rights does not lessen the State’s interest in knowing which candidates have received its support and endorsement. The State has met its burden for the first prong of exacting scrutiny. Nevertheless, Wyoming’s statute is not narrowly tailored to meet this governmental interest and fails on the second prong of the test.

Some context at Cowboy State Daily.

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