You vote on a Votomatic by pushing a small metal stylus through a paper card. Push hard enough and a tiny disc of paper falls out. Push too gently and the disc stays attached, hanging by a corner. Campbell County used that punch-card system for decades, right up until Wyoming moved the whole state to the electronic voting it uses now. Robert Henning, director of the Campbell County Rockpile Museum, pointed out in the county's October 2026 County Connection video that it's the same machine behind the hanging chads of the 2000 Bush v. Gore election.
A Votomatic is now on display at the Rockpile, at 900 W. 2nd Street. It sits beside the Smithsonian traveling exhibition "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America," which runs through Saturday, Nov. 28. Election Day has come and gone, but the exhibit has more than three weeks left in Gillette. The most local part of its stay, the part built around voting and military service, falls in those last weeks.
A national exhibit with a Campbell County room added
The traveling show comes from the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program, which works with the Wyoming State Museum to bring exhibitions to rural museums. It's based on "American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith," an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. It covers how American democracy began, the fights to win and keep the vote, the machinery of elections, petitioning and protest, and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The displays combine historical and contemporary photos, archival video, short interactive games, campaign souvenirs and protest material.
The Rockpile staff added local material of their own. In the County Connection video, Henning described two historic voting booths from Campbell County's past. One is roughly mid-20th century, and the other is the Votomatic. The election display also holds campaign materials from past races, including the item Henning called his favorite so far: a pack of Michael Dukakis-branded cigarettes.
A second local display collects bills written by Mike Enzi, the former U.S. senator who was once Gillette's mayor, according to the Gillette News Record. Taken together, the Enzi bills and the voting booths trace an arc from the booth on a Gillette election day to legislation written in Washington by someone who started in Gillette city government.
Henning told the News Record why the museum took the exhibit during the America 250 year:
"This is our government. We the people own the government, right? So we have a lot of advantages in that. I think we take that for granted sometimes, so I'm hoping that people will read this and realize, hey, this is quite a unique place we live."
The only stop that covers both Election Day and Veterans Day
"Voices and Votes" is visiting six Wyoming museums over about a year. The Wyoming State Museum's tour schedule lays it out:
- Museum at the Bighorns, Sheridan: April 18 to June 13, 2026
- Wyoming State Museum, Cheyenne: June 20 to Aug. 8, 2026
- Fort Caspar Museum, Casper: Aug. 15 to Oct. 3, 2026
- Campbell County Rockpile Museum, Gillette: Oct. 10 to Nov. 28, 2026
- Washakie Museum, Worland: Dec. 5, 2026 to Jan. 30, 2027
- Homesteader Museum, Powell: Feb. 6 to March 27, 2027
Each stop runs about seven weeks. Casper's closed in early October. Worland's opens in December. Gillette's is the only run that includes a November Election Day and a Veterans Day. The local additions fit that timing. The voting booths and campaign material point toward Election Day, and in the same County Connection video Henning said the museum planned veterans' activities for November.
The exhibit opened Oct. 10 with no opening event. Henning said the museum would hold events during its stay and would post them on its website and social media, with printed schedules at the front desk. If you want to know about any companion program before you go, call the museum at 307-682-5723.
Nov. 11 moves the history outdoors to Mount Pisgah
The first confirmed veterans' event takes the museum's work out of the building. On Wednesday, Nov. 11, the Rockpile hosts the Veterans Day Mount Pisgah Cemetery Walk, as County 17 reported. It starts at 2:30 p.m., and walkers meet in the parking area by the Mount Pisgah Cemetery Community Room.
Rockpile volunteer Greg Bennick leads the one-mile route and tells the stories of 12 Campbell County veterans. Flags go on veterans' graves earlier that day, and at 4 p.m. anyone who wants to stay can help collect them. The museum suggests bringing water, wearing warm clothes and choosing sturdy shoes. Questions go to Rockpile Museum Educator Penny Schroder at 307-682-5723.
The walk ends by 4 p.m., and the museum is open until 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, so on Nov. 11 you can go straight from the cemetery to the exhibit. The museum's last posted admission schedule, from 2023, lists free entry for veterans and their spouses, active-duty military and their families, Rockpile Museum Association members, children 5 and under, and SNAP and WIC beneficiaries. Adult admission is listed at $10. That notice is a few years old, so check current prices at the desk.
The exhibit's last days overlap downtown's holiday calendar
In its final weeks, "Voices and Votes" shares the calendar with two Gillette holiday events, and its closing date lines up with one of them.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Gillette Main Street's 2026 Winter Walk buttons go on sale at participating downtown businesses. Each costs $5 and carries its own number, and only a limited number are printed.
- Wednesday, Nov. 11: The Mount Pisgah Cemetery Walk at 2:30 p.m., with flag collection at 4 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 20, through Sunday, Nov. 22: The Festival of Trees fills the Cam-Plex Wyoming Center.
- Saturday, Nov. 28: The last day to see "Voices and Votes" in Gillette. It's also the first of the two dates when Winter Walk winning numbers go up at participating businesses. The second is Dec. 6.
A winning Winter Walk number gets a prize worth $50 or more from the business that posts it. Main Street's office is at 314 S. Gillette Ave., and Main Street says it will announce the list of participating businesses.
On Nov. 28, a downtown afternoon can cover both. You can see the Votomatic and the Enzi bills on their last day at the Rockpile, then check the posted numbers at participating downtown businesses. After that, the exhibit packs up for the Washakie Museum in Worland, where it opens Dec. 5. The Campbell County voting booths and the Enzi bills are the Rockpile's own additions to the traveling show.
If you own ground around Gillette and want its deeds, water filings and history sorted out before your next decision about it, NorthStar Realty knows Campbell County ranch land and its records. Schedule a Land Consultation with Shana and Christian Morgan, and see more of our local coverage on the Gillette neighborhood page.
