OKLAHOMA CITY – State lawmakers addressed more than two dozen measures this year that proposed myriad changes to election procedures.
Topics included raising voter percentages to pass certain issues, requiring proof of identity to vote, limitations on absentee voting, requiring voters to declare their party affiliation in special elections, requiring paper ballots in all elections, requiring all municipal and school elections to be partisan, and allowing the Governor to fill local school board vacancies.
Proof of identity
House Joint Resolution 1031 proposed a constitutional amendment which would have decreed that only “bona fide residents of Oklahoma shall be considered” when the determining the results of elections in this state. The proposal died in the House of Representatives.
HJR 1048 proposed a similar constitutional amendment: that only U.S. citizens with a valid ID could vote in a state or federal election in Oklahoma. That measure died in the Senate.
Senate Joint Resolution 27 was a constitutional amendment declaring that only U.S. citizens 18 or older and “bona fide residents of Oklahoma” are qualified to vote in this state. The proposal died in the House.
SJR 48 would have required every voter to “present proof of identity” when voting in any election in Oklahoma. That measure died in the House.
Voter percentages
required for passage
HJR 1002 was a constitutional amendment which would have decreed that petitions to place initiatives and constitutional amendments on the ballot would have to bear the signatures of a specific percentage of legal voters in every one of the state’s 77 counties.
That proposal was widely perceived to be a GOP backlash after Oklahoma voters petitioned for, and approved, medical marijuana and Medicaid expansion. The proposal died in the Senate Rules Committee.
House Bill 3234 would have stipulated that no special election called by any municipality, county, school district, Career Technology center, fire protection district “or other political subdivision” would be deemed valid unless 40% of the registered voters participated in the election.
Similarly, HB 3236 would have required a three-fifths “affirmative” vote to pass any question proposed in an election held by a municipality, county, school district, tech center, fire protection district or other political subdivision.
HBs 3234 and 3236 both died in the House Committee on Elections and Ethics.
Paper ballots
All ballots for any election in Oklahoma are required by House Bill 3321 to be printed on paper “to ensure a fair and accurate count…” The Governor signed the bill.
The measure also prohibits using watchers via electronic devices and prohibits devices or equipment used by the State Election Board or a county election board to count or tabulate ballots from connecting to the Internet. However, this does not prohibit a secure network connection between the State Election Board and county election boards to transmit or receive voter registration or election-related data.
HB 3321 also includes distributing an absentee ballot application or request to a voter with official letterhead under the definition of “absentee ballot harvesting.”
The new law also requires that a new unitary integrated voting system that is implemented on or after Jan. 1, 2023, will be required to report the official election returns of each election by precinct, including all votes cast in person and absentee.
Impeding poll watchers
House Bill 3680 would have made it a felony crime to “illegally remove, obstruct the view, or otherwise restrict the free movement of” a poll watcher. A violator could be imprisoned for five years and/or fined $50,000. The bill died in the House Rules Committee.
Absentee voting
Senate Bill 1570 would have decreed that the only people who could vote absentee would be individuals who have a disability or plan to be absent on the day of the vote. All other persons would be required to vote in person. That bill died in the Senate Rules Committee.
House Bill 4159 would have authorized election boards to begin “opening and reviewing mail-in absentee ballots” 30 days prior to an election. Also, if a voter’s ballot were rejected, the election board would have been required to “provide time to cure the ballot.” HB 4159 died in the House Rules Committee.
An individual directed to sign an affidavit on an absentee ballot would have been required by Senate Bill 103 to print his/her name and address of residence on the affidavit. The voter signature would have to be witnessed by two people who did not sign the affidavit, and their printed names, signatures and addresses would have had to appear on the affidavit. SB 103 died in the House before receiving a floor vote.
Effective July 1, House Bill 3364 requires online absentee ballot requests to include identification in addition to a voter’s name and date of birth. Identification may include the applicant’s driver’s license number, state identification number or the last four digits of the person’s Social Security number.
Effective Jan. 1, 2023, a registered voter submitting an online absentee ballot request will be required to confirm his/her address prior to submitting the request form.
Voters who registered prior to the requirement for additional identification information may submit a paper absentee ballot request or re-register to vote with the additional identification. HB 3364 was signed into law by the Governor.
Voter registration
House Bill 3365 requires that if an individual registers to vote or changes registration, the new registration card is mailed to a valid mailing address.
Voter registration must be canceled in case of written notice, death, felony conviction, judicial determination of mental incapacitation, registration in another county or state, failure to respond to address confirmation, or if the individual surrenders an Oklahoma driver’s license. A list of voter registrations canceled in the last two years will be made public.
Also, a voter who is registered to vote at the same residence as five or more voters will be sent an address confirmation mailing.
Certain voters will be required to complete an address confirmation form before voting, including inactive voters, a voter identified as possibly changing their address, and a voter with an invalid or incomplete address. HB 3365 was signed into law by the Governor.
House Bill 2974 requires the State Election Board to perform an annual query to determine how many individuals are registered at the same residential address. If more than 10 registered voters share a single residential address, the State Election Board must provide a list to the secretary of the county election board, who must notify the county's district attorney to investigate any potential criminal violations.
The provisions of the bill do not extend to residents of nursing homes, veterans centers, medical facilities, multiunit housing, or uniformed or overseas voters. Governor Stitt signed HB 2974.
Specify party affiliation
Senate Bill 1829 and House Bill 3233 both would have required candidates for political office to declare their party affiliation regardless of whether the election were partisan or non-partisan and regardless of the office sought. Both measures died in committee.
Senate Bill 1666 would have required all municipal and school elections to be partisan. It, too, died in committee.
Miscellaneous
Under existing state law, if a local school board member completes the term for which he/she was elected but decides to step down before a successor is elected, the remaining board members appoint someone to fill that vacancy. Under House Bill 3235 by Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader (R-Piedmont), that vacancy would have been filled by the Governor of Oklahoma. The bill died in the House Committee on Elections and Ethics.
House Bill 3232 proposed that if the federal government makes election laws that are counter to Oklahoma election law, then those laws will be followed only during separately held federal elections. Determination on those laws would be made by the state Attorney General. The Secretary of the State Election Board would temporarily alter rules so that no other elections would be held on the same day as the federal election. That bill died in the Senate.
House Bill 3059 would have created a vehicle to allow voters to decide whether to retain an incumbent who is not facing a challenger during his/her bid for re-election.
Once elected to office, “many legislators don’t ever show up on the ballot again,” said Rep. Andy Fugate. “In the last election, 46 members won their seats by default. Nobody voted for them. They didn’t draw an opponent, so their constituents had no choice but to accept them – whether they wanted them or not.”
Fugate (D-Del City) adopted a judicial retention practice to come up with his legislation.
Under his proposal, “Any incumbent legislator who does not have an opponent would still appear on the ballot. They would stand for retention, which means voters would choose if they wanted to keep their elected representative. Retention is what we already do today for judges.” HB 3059 died in the House Committee on Elections and Ethics.