A few years back, the Obama Administration create the White House Petition website in which citizens could introduce issues they would like to see the President address. Other people could then sign those petitions to add their support and ensure that the President responded to them. That site has become a valuable tool for allowing voters to express their desire for change in government, even if it has not had the desired effect of changing the President’s opinions on certain matters.
This month, the Oklahoma Legislature is following in that arena and has created its very own public forum for changing the direction of politics and public opinion in this very state. This site, Speakup Oklahoma, already has a lot of topics on it ranging from campaign finance reform, the pay of public employees, hemp and marijuana legalization, to school choice. So it is only proper for us to present our very own proposal for easing Oklahoma’s strict ballot access laws.
Currently, Oklahoma is one of the toughest states to form a new political party in the U.S. These laws have created a drought of ideas in our political landscape. We need to reduce the petition requirement for forming a new party from the current 5% of the last general election to the flat 5,000 signatures parties needed prior to the change in 1974.
We would like to see a massive outpouring of support for this proposal. Signing up for the site is incredibly easy. You can create an account using Facebook or fill out a simple form on the site. Once you do that, simply go to the Ballot Access Reform topic and vote for it simply by clicking the cote counter. If you feel inclined you can also leave a comment in support. I want to see this topic reach the top of the vote count pile. So, get on it.
The ballot access laws are definitely too restrictive. And there are always more than 2 sides to an issue.
Oklahomans have not been able to vote for anyone for president, other than the two major party nominees, for each of the last 3 presidential elections. In order to find an instance in any other state in which a voter could only vote for the Democratic or Republican nominee for president, one must go all the way back to Hawaii 1972.
The only other instance in U.S. history in which, for 3 or more presidential elections in a row, voters had so little choice for president, is Ohio 1952 through 1964.
Amending my comment, besides Ohio 1952-1964, also add Nebraska 1940-1964.