Governor signs legislation about recounts
OKLAHOMA CITY – Legislation that could require a recount if a statewide election on a statutory issue or constitutional change is decided by a narrow margin was signed by Governor Stitt.
House Bill 2564 by Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, and Sen. Marty Quinn, R-Claremore, goes into effect Nov. 1 this year.
The bill decrees that any candidate or individual who requests a manual recount of ballots must submit a petition accompanied by a cashier’s check or certified check totaling $600 for each 3,000 ballots “or fraction thereof” to be retabulated in each affected county.
If a candidate or individual requests an electronic recount, the petition must be accompanied by a check totaling $600 for the first 3,000 ballots and $300 for each additional 5,000 ballots “to be recounted for each affected county.”
Any petition for a recount that is filed with the State Election Board must be accompanied by a cashier’s check for $300 in addition to the amounts previously listed.
The Governor or the Attorney General could request a recount on any state question if sufficient funds are available to pay for it.
Also, subject to adequate funding, the Secretary of the State Election Board must order an automatic recount on a state question if:
- the margin of votes required for approval is one-half of 1 percent or less of the total number of votes cast for or against a state question involving a statutory issue or question;
- the margin of votes required for approval of a state question involving a constitutional amendment is within 1 percent or less of the total number of votes cast for or against the proposition.
Available funding means having at least $250,000 in the State Question Recount Revolving Fund on Election Day.
The revolving fund will consist of moneys appropriated by the Legislature and cannot exceed $500,000, HB 2564 decrees. The proceeds will be used to underwrite State Election Board expenses incurred in conducting recounts and to reimburse county election boards for their costs associated with performing recounts.
Any fees collected in excess of the half-million-dollar balance in the State Question Recount Revolving Fund are to be deposited in the State Election Board Revolving Fund, HB 2564 stipulates.
Under existing state law, a recount of an “issue or question election” is not permitted.
A recount on State Question 802, Medicaid expansion, would have cost Oklahoma’s counties about $181,000, State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said. Of the 674,591 ballots that were counted in that election last June, the constitutional amendment passed by 6,553 votes (a margin of 0.97%).
A recount on State Question 805, a criminal justice reform proposal that focused on sentence enhancements, would have cost counties almost $330,000, Ziriax said. That election last November drew more than 1.5 million voters (and was opposed by 61% of them).