HomeTop StoriesOklahoma lawmakers are proposing changes to elections

Oklahoma lawmakers are proposing changes to elections

A “Don’t Forget to Vote” sign hangs outside the Noble County Courthouse in Perry on June 15, 2024. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY – Lawmakers have introduced a number of measures aimed at changing Oklahoma’s election processes.

Senate Bill 129by Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, and Senate Bill 273by Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, would increase the number of days for in-person absentee voting.

Senate Bill 129 would extend in-person absentee voting to 14 days.

Boren’s bill adds Wednesdays for all elections and Saturdays during the three weeks leading up to the general election, primaries, runoffs or presidential elections.

Kirt said there aren’t enough early voting days.

“People need access,” she said.

She said long lines during early voting during the last election cycle kept people from casting ballots.

State leaders should make it a priority to make it easier for people to vote without hassle, she said.

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Senate Bill 329by Boren, would require notice to those absent from voting if a ballot is rejected and give the voter a chance to fix the flawed paperwork.

“If that ballot had been rejected three weeks before the election, I could have gone and voted in person if I had known,” Boren said. “Other states are telling people what to fix. We do not offer that option if a ballot is rejected.”

She said a writer’s mistake should not nullify a person’s right to vote.

House Bill 1692by Rep. Ronald Stewart Jr., D-Tulsa, would make any general election day a holiday.

The measure would increase voter participation, he said.

In the 2024 general election, the percentage of Eligible voters in Oklahoma who cast their ballots was among the lowest in the country, experts said.

House Bill 1985by Rep. Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater, would end straight-party voting.

It’s one of the issues that has been consistently on the doorstep during her campaign, she said.

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Ranson said that requires people to vote for the candidate and not the party.

“I think it encourages voters to educate themselves about who is running,” Ranson said.

House Bill 1712by Rep. Forrest Bennett, D-Oklahoma City, would require a political party to hold a closed primary or runoff primary to reimburse the costs of the election.

Bennett said his bill serves as a financial incentive to open up the process.

“Elections are funded by taxpayers,” he said.

Democrats currently allow independents to vote in primaries and runoff elections, but Republicans and Libertarians do not.

Supporters of the open primaries has indicated that they are circulating an initiative petition to put the issue, in the form of State Question 836, to the vote.

House Bill 1515by Rep. Molly Jenkins, R-Coyle, would require registered voters seeking an absentee ballot to “provide a declaration explaining why they are unable to be absent early in person or vote on Election Day due to work, school or travel.”

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Senate Joint Resolution 5by Sen. Michael Bergstrom, R-Adair, would require initiatives, referendums and constitutional amendments sent to voters to be approved by at least 60% of voters instead of a majority. The measure would have to be approved by a vote of the people to become law.

Lawmakers return to the Capitol on February 3.

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