Leave the initiative petition process alone
The idea goes back before statehood. Our founding fathers – the populists who didn’t like government and the politicians who didn’t like anyone – made a good call as they drafted the Oklahoma Constitution. They said the power of government is held by the people of this state.
Then they made the Legislature the strongest of the state’s three branches of government. At the same time, they included a check by the people – the initiative and referendum process.
Under the provision, any voter could propose, amend, or repeal laws or propose new constitutional provisions by collecting voter signatures and putting the idea to a statewide vote.
And, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society, “Oklahoma was the first state to include initiative and referendum provisions in its original constitution when it became a state in 1907.”
The process is simple: to qualify, supporters must gather signatures equal to 8% of the votes cast for Governor for a statutory change or 15% for a constitutional amendment. The law doesn’t specify where the signatures come from, it just says they must equal a certain number of votes previously cast.
In addition, the law requires filing a copy of the petition with the Secretary of State and undergoing legal challenges and signature verification before a measure can be placed on the ballot for a public vote.
So far, that process has worked well. The state historical society reports that, since statehood, Oklahomans have voted on more than 400 state questions.
“About three-quarters of the questions have been legislative referenda placed before the voters by the state Legislature,” the OHS said. “Fewer than twenty citizen referenda have been placed on the ballot, and only four have won. The remaining state questions were statutory initiatives or initiatives proposing constitutional amendments.”
That was the past. This year, state Sen. David Bullard – a Republican from Durant – decided the process needed more restrictions including signature caps from each county. Bullard joined forces with House Speaker Kyle Hilbert and the far-right section of Hilbert’s caucus to develop and pass major restrictions to Oklahoma’s initiative and referendum process.
The result was Senate Bill 1027.
And while the measure passed both houses of the Legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt, it’s not active. Four citizens filed a lawsuit against the measure, asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to assume original jurisdiction and effectively place the law in a large governmental garbage can.
Last week, the state’s high court held hearing on the bill and even though the justices didn’t come out a say that Bullard’s bill was a bad idea, their questions indicated this bill probably wouldn’t survive.
My favorite line of questioning came from Justice Douglas Combs.
“So, what you’re really saying, and I think you’ve argued this in some of your briefings, it’s not that you can’t sign the initiative petition, but it doesn’t count. You count, but you don’t. How is that not disenfranchising the ‘you don’t’ person?” Combs said.
Zach West, the attorney for the state, said Combs was worried about too much. “Our argument can be everyone can sign,” West said. “It’s very likely when you’re signing that your signature would count.”
Combs didn’t buy that. He said it was problematic that SB 1027 cuts off signatures collected in a single county, yet expects signature gatherers to create a collection of buffer signatures.
“I don’t understand how the state can legitimately argue that ... you can sign it. You count. You don’t,” Combs said. “That’s a problem.”
The idea that depending on where you live makes your vote count for more isn’t one that Combs or many of the other justices supported. It’s an idea that Oklahomans shouldn’t support either. Senate Bill 1027 and the restrictions it places on the initiative and referendum process are good examples of bad public policy.
Hopefully, the Oklahoma Supreme Court will agree.
M. Scott Carter is an award-winning political and investigative reporter covering federal and state government and politics in Oklahoma.