Category Archives: Ballot Access

HB2134 Will Be Heard In Rules Committee Wednesday

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On Wednesday, February 20th at 9am, the House Rules Committee will be voting on whether to advance HB2134. This is an important step in the process as this meeting, of only a small number of House members, has the potential to kill the bill for the year. It is important that you contact the House Rules Committee and ask that this bill be passed to the floor for a vote. It is also important to stress that this bill, which would change the signature requirement to form a new party to a flat 5,000, be unchanged. We will be listening in on the meeting and provide updates tomorrow.

Letter To The Editor Published In Tulsa World

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Today, the Tulsa World published my Letter to the Editor. This letter was pretty much word for word my letter to NewsOK, but the World made several edits. Nothing that changed the meaning in any way, just the flow. It is great to see that the World finally picked it up. This letter has sparked a pretty great conversation in the comments that had yet to exist on the Tulsa World website.

I will express one aside here. The Tulsa World is a supporter of what are called “paywalls” in which non-subscribing readers are blocked from reading more than 10 or so articles a month. This means that it is likely that some of you may not be able to read the letter or the comments. This is one reason why I like to post the letter contents in full. Continue reading →

SB668 Passes Senate Rules Committee With Amendments

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Wednesday, February 13th, the Senate Rules Committee voted 19-0 to pass SB668, Ballot Access Reform, with an amendment which Senator Johnson introduced in the meeting. The amendment grants the Election Board greater authority to answer questions and resolve disputes(pdf) over who is authorized to represent a new party in the state. It reads as follows:

In the event a question or dispute arises as to which person or persons have the authority to act on behalf of a recognized political party, the Secretary of the State Election Board shall have the authority to make such determination based on relevant state statutes, official documents filed with the Secretary of the State Election Board, the party’s by-laws, and, if possible, consultation with the party’s national chair or executive committee.

This amendment seems to be targeted at situations such as this past Presidential Election in which the state chapter of the Americans Elect Party tried to nominate the Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. That nomination eventually went to the State Supreme Court which ruled that the state party did not have authorization to nominate a Presidential Candidate because the national party refused to hold a convention. This amendment would seem to allow the Election Board the power to resolve these disputes without going to court.

Unfortunately, this is the only amendment and one that is not really necessary. It would have been preferable to have the bill amended to require a set 5,000 signatures. I have not heard back from Senator Johnson or any other members of the Rules Committee on that matter.

“What Are Legislators Afraid Of?” Letter to News OK

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Today, Rena Guay had a letter published on NewsOK showing her support for ballot access reform. She also calls out the current efforts for not going far enough and allowing for write-ins.

We agree. Oklahoma is one of the few states that do not allow for write-in candidates for any election. This needs to change. When people do not see a candidate they can support on the ballot, they would rather stay home than vote for someone they don’t support. Allowing for write-ins would provide those people and opportunity to cast a vote for the person they support while at the same time declaring their no confidence vote in the named candidates.

I agree with E. Zachary Knight (Your Views, Feb. 6) that Oklahoma needs ballot access reform. However, Knight didn’t go far enough, and neither do proposed changes to ballot access from the Legislature. In addition to reducing the number of signatures needed to start a new party, Oklahomans need the right to write in candidates on the ballot, like 42 other states. Other impediments to access, and thus an absence of real democracy, remain.

What are our legislators afraid of? The voters who put them in office to begin with? This isn’t some radical left-wing agenda that Oklahoma conservatives need to stave off. This is democracy! If the policymakers at the Capitol are going to continue this ridiculous stonewalling on ballot reform, they need to offer Oklahomans a good explanation. In the meantime, those citizens should contact their representatives and tell them to start making these commons-sense, democratic changes to Oklahoma law and bring us into the modern era of ballot access and voting rights.

Rena Guay, Oklahoma City

Letter To The Editor Published In NewsOK Asking For Reform

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I regularly send letters to the editor. I find it to be a great way to address issues that often get overlooked by the media. Ballot Access Reform is one of those issue. Of all the media sites in Oklahoma, NewsOK seems to be one of the easier outlets to get a letter published. While NewsOK already took the stance that Oklahoma needs reform, that was many weeks before the Legislative session began. So it is important to keep this issue in the forefront of the media. So I sent a letter to NewsOK and other media outlets and NewsOK was the first to publish it.

So here is the original unedited version of the letter:

Once again, Ballot Access Reform is on the table in Oklahoma. Will this year be the year that Oklahoma joins the rest of the US in easing the requirements to form a new party? Will this year be the year that Oklahoma citizens can look forward to real choice in future Presidential elections? Or will we see a continuation of the status quo?

Unfortunately, things are off to a very rocky start. While bills have been introduced in both the State House and Senate, these bills are in the exact same position similar bills were in the past two Legislative Sessions. That position ended with prior efforts dying in Committee. The House version, HB 2134, reduces the signature requirement to 5,000 signatures, the same requirement needed prior to 1974. Yet, the Senate version, SB 668, retains the current 5% requirement but drops the Presidential elections from the equation. This has been the hard Senate line for many years.

It is time for the Senate to end its war on Oklahoma voter choice and amend SB 668 to reflect the language introduced in the House. There are no valid reasons for keeping the status quo. There are no valid reasons for blocking a change for the better in Oklahoma politics. It is time for change. If three Presidential Elections in a Row where Oklahoma was the only state in the US with two choices on the ballot is not evidence to support that, then what is? If three Presidential elections in a row with lower voter turnout than the previous election is not evidence in support of that, then what is?

The following was published on February 6, 2013. I like to post both versions of the letter as it helps to see what edits may get made to your own letters.

Ballot access reform is again on the table in Oklahoma. Will this be the year that we join the rest of the United States in easing the requirements to form a new party? Will this be the year Oklahomans can look forward to real choice in future presidential elections? Or will we see a continuation of the status quo?

Unfortunately, things are off to a rocky start. While bills have been introduced in both houses of the Legislature, these bills are in the same position as similar bills were in the past two legislative sessions. That position ended with prior efforts dying in committee. The House version, House Bill 2134, reduces the signature requirement to 5,000, the same requirement needed prior to 1974. Yet the Senate version, Senate Bill 668, retains the current 5 percent requirement but drops the presidential elections from the equation. This has been the hard Senate line for many years.

It’s time for the Senate to end its war on Oklahoma voter choice and amend SB 668 to reflect the language introduced in the House. There are no valid reasons for keeping the status quo and blocking a change for the better in Oklahoma politics. It’s time for change. If three presidential elections in a row when Oklahoma was the only state with two choices on the ballot isn’t evidence to support that, what is?

So please, write letters to every newspaper you can and voice your support for reform in this state. The more voices that are aired, the more will be heard.

Example Letter Sent Regarding SB 668 Ballot Access Reform

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With SB 668 being sent to the Senate Rules Committee for review, I feel that it is important to contact those members to express the need to amend the bill to reflect the 5,000 signature requirement in the House Bill. As such, I am providing you with the letter that I sent to Senator Rob Johnson, the author of SB 668. I also sent a similarly worded letter to the other members of the Senate Rules Committee.

So if you are having trouble writing a letter or need some talking points when making phone calls, feel free to use this letter as a launching point.

Dear Senator Johnson,

My name is Zachary Knight. I am the Chief Editor of OKVoterChoice.org, the online home of Oklahomans for Ballot Access Reform. I am writing to you today regarding the introduction of SB668 to the 2013 Legislative Session. I am grateful to see that you have taken up this important reform for Oklahoma’s political climate. However, I must express some disappointment in the current wording of the bill.

According to the bill as introduced, SB668 would not bring much relief to new parties attempting to form in Oklahoma. SB668 simply removes the Presidential elections from the equation. While this language would bring some stability to the petition requirements, it will do little to ease the burden of fledgling parties in the state.

Additionally, it is this language that has led reform bills in previous sessions to die in committee as the Senate refused to amend the bills to reflect a flat signature requirement as proposed in similar House bills. For four years, the Senate has maintained that the requirement should be kept at 5% of the Gubernatorial elections and for four years, this demand has led to Oklahoma voters continuing to be denied voter choice.

Representative Hickman has introduced HB2134 which would reduce the signature requirement to a flat 5,000 signatures. I would implore you to amend your bill, SB668, to reflect that same requirement. Oklahoma voters deserve to have more choices on the ballot.

I fear that without this reform, Oklahoma politics and elections will continue to stagnate as fewer and fewer people take part in the election process. We have seen this over the last 3 Presidential elections. Each election has seen significantly lower voter turnout than the previous election. How much longer will the Oklahoma Senate sit idly by while Oklahoma voters lose faith in the Democratic process?

Once again, I ask that you amend SB668 to reflect the 5,000 signature requirement in the House Bill.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to watching the progress of your bill.

E. Zachary Knight

Chief Editor

OKVoterChoice.org

Ballot Access Reform Introduced In Oklahoma

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Once again, Ballot Access Reform bills have been introduced in the House and Senate. Unfortunately, we are already off to a rocky start. While bills have been introduced in both houses of the State Legislature, each bill carries its own conflicting language.

First up, we have SB668, introduced by Senator Rob Johnson. This bill became available first and includes language that really offers no reprieve to new political parties. It modifies the current requirement of 5% of the last general election, which includes both the Presidential and Gubernatorial, to 5% of the last Gubernatorial election.

This is better in only the fact that no political parties have met the current requirement following Presidential election years. All new parties that have formed since the 1974 change have only been able to form in years following Gubernatorial elections. However, only 3 such parties have formed since the 80s. Considering the most recent example, the Americans Elect Party, was only able to form with considerable outside financial backing, we would continue to see a lack of political options in years to come.

Fortunately, the House version, HB2134 introduced by Representative Jeffrey Hickman, includes language consistent with the requirements prior to 1974. Under HB2134, a new party would be able to form after gathering only 5,000 signatures. This is a much more reasonable and fair requirement than the current 5% requirement.

However, due to the conflicting nature of these two bills, it will be difficult for true reform to pass this year without a fight. In the last Legislative Session, similar bills were filed. While both passed their respective houses, although the House version did not pass without an amendment that raised the requirement to 25,000 signatures, because of the conflicting language, the bills went to a Conference Committee which sat on them till the close of the session. This killed the chances of reform in both 2011 and 2012.

Another unfortunate oversight by those filing these bills is the lack of other needed reforms. Particularly in the area of retaining status. Oklahoma’s current requirement for retaining status is to win 10% of the total votes in the General Election. If a party does not field a candidate or does not win the 10% mark, they are removed from party status and must re-qualify. A better solution would be to make party status good for 4 years rather than the current 2 and to lower the General Election vote requirement to 1-5%.

Finally, neither of these bills tackle the statute language that immunizes the Democratic and Republican parties from these requirements. Under current law, if the Democratic or Republican parties fail to win 10% of the general Election vote, they will still retain official party recognition.

While these bills are not perfect, it is imperative that we contact our House and Senate representatives and encourage them to vote for these reforms. It is also important that we emphasize to our Senators, and specifically the Senate Rules Committee to amend the legislation to reflect the 5,000 signature requirement. We should also emphasize to the House Rules Committee to preserve the current language.

Deadline Looming For Ballot Access Reform Bill; Needs Senate Sponsor

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Oklahoma Legislators must introduce all bills for the 2013 Legislative Session by December 14th, 2012 in order to be heard. This means that if a Ballot Access Reform bill is to be introduced, it must be done in the next few days or it must wait till 2014. This bill should not have to wait that long.

According to the Libertarian Facebook page, this bill needs a Senator to introduce it before that time.

Oklahoma legislature deadline: 14 Dec.
We need a Senator to agree to introduce a Ballot Access Reform Bill (Title 26-1-108.2). Eliminate the 5% requirement. Prior to 1974 petition only required 5000 valid signatures. Not the number requires more that 50,000. Due to validity issues you have to add 30% more. Can you help?

The House has a member that is willing to introduce a reform bill, but only if the bill can be introduced in the Senate as well. If a bill is not introduced in both houses, then it is dead in the water and this House member would not want to waste one of his eight allotments on a bill that has zero chance of being heard.

So we are putting out the request that you contact your State Senator and ask him or her to introduce such a bill for this session. Please do so in the next few days as the deadline is less than a week away.

If you have any questions of who your State Senator is, visit the “Find My Legislature” page and enter your adress. This page will tell you who your State Representative, State Senator and US Congressman are as well as provide their names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.

Oklahoman Petitioners Gain Moderate Reprieve Compared To Last Presidential Election

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While not as easy as this past election year, petitioning requirements for the coming 2014 election season will be easier than it was for the 2010 election year. This is thanks to the lower voter turnout compared to previous presidential elections.

According to Ballot Access News:

Oklahoma requires a petition signed by 5% of the last vote cast (for the office at the top of the ballot) to get a newly-qualifying party on the ballot. The number of voters voting for President in Oklahoma declined in 2012, compared to 2008. Also, the presidential vote in 2008 was lower in Oklahoma than it had been in 2004. This is somewhat surprising, because Oklahoma is not losing population.

 

For 2014, the state requires 66,744 signatures. While this is overwhelmingly burdensome, it is easier than the 2010 requirement, which was 73,134.

That is a far cry more than the 51,739 that the 2012 election required. Even with that 15,000 fewer requirement, this past election year saw a single political party earn ballot access, while several more failed to meet even that lower threshold. Which leaves the likelihood of any new parties gaining access for the gubernatorial election very unlikely.

The one positive to come from this is this evidence of the hardships new parties have gaining access to the ballot. If even under the lower requirements following a gubernatorial election it is near impossible to gain access, how much more impossible it is following a presidential election. If you look back through the years, you will see that the only times a new party has been able to gain access is in years following gubernatorial elections.

Hopefully, as we move into the new election cycle, we can use these truths and finally get reform passed in the State Legislature. Something this state desperately needs.