Oklahomans for Ballot Access Reform (OBAR)

04/24/2025

Reminder, SB1027, the bill that would kill the Oklahoma constitutional right to the citizen initiative, is available to consider for a House floor vote starting today. There is no telling when they will actually bring the bill up for a vote, but it could be first thing this morning, or sometime in the next 2 weeks (May 8 is the deadline for Senate Bills to be voted on in the House).

If you have not called your State Representative to tell them to vote no on this bill, do so now. Call them every day until May 8 if we have to. We cannot let this bill pass.

Oklahoma Legislature's Website where you can follow the introduction of bills, committee actions, and votes on the bills.

04/23/2025

SB1027, the bill that would make citizen initiatives impossible, has been placed on the House Floor Agenda. It can be voted on as early as tomorrow April 24. this bill needs to be defeated.

This bill caps the number of signatures initiatives can gather in each county. This means that the two counties with the majority of citizens cannot provide more than 20% of signatures. This forces initiatives to spread their efforts into rural counties where it is far harder to get the number of signatures needed.

The bill also makes it illegal to hire out of state signature gatherers, as well as making it illegal to pay gatherers based on the number of signatures they gather. It also imposes weekly reporting requirements on initiative petitioners.

Please, if you haven't already, call your State Representative and tell them to vote No on this bill.

Oklahoma Legislature's Website where you can follow the introduction of bills, committee actions, and votes on the bills.

11/16/2022

With the 2022 election now certified, we now have the data needed to know what is required for the various petitions voters in Oklahoma can submit to the government.

All statewide petitions are based off the last vote for Governor. This year a total of 1,153,284 voters cast a vote for governor. So all petitions are based off that.

To form a new party, voters would need to submit a petition equal to 3% of that vote. This total is 34,599 valid signatures.

To register an Independent or unaffiliated Presidential candidate, the petition is the same as that for a political party. Alternatively, they can submit a filing fee equal to $5,000 per electoral college vote, or $35,000.

To file a state question to submit a Constitutional Amendment to a vote of the people, voters would need to submit a petition of 15% of the vote for governor. That is 172,993 signatures.

To file a state question to submit a proposal to change are add a law, or initiative, voters would need to submit a petition of 8% of the vote for governor. That is 92,263 signatures.

To file a state question to repeal a newly passed law, or referendum, voters would need to submit a petition of 5% of the vote for governor. That is 57,664 signatures.

Now, these are the total number of VALID signatures. To ensure that petitions meet that requirement, those circulating these petitions often need to get 25-50% more signatures than what is required.

Then there is time requirements. For a new party, the petition can be circulated for up to 12 months. For state questions, these petitions must be completed in 3 months. While there is no time limit for candidate petitions, these are generally limited by announcement to run to the time needed to file.

Finally, there is the cost to circulate the petition. This cost can vary widely, especially taking into account the time restraints. For party petitions, previous successful petitions cost around $4 a signature. But for state questions, this cost can go up to $10+ per signature. So these petitions can cost 100s of thousands to over a million dollars.

But this is what Oklahoma voters have to look forward to if they want to change this state for the better.

06/05/2022

The Oklahoman has published voter registration numbers for the last two years. This data indicates that the intended impact of Oklahoma's Republican legislature's gerrymandering of Congressional District 5, which held most of Oklahoma Country, was successful.

In a graphic published along side the story, it shows that District 5 democrats dropped 6 percentage points in total registration percentage. The only district where Democratic percentage did not drop was District 3 where the carve out of south west Oklahoma Country was moved to. CD 3 saw a 1 percent increase of registered Democrats.

It is far past time that Oklahoma switched to an Independent Redistricting process. Allowing political interests to draw districts that do nothing but increase the hold of incumbent parties and candidates is not how this should be done.

It is enshrined in the Oklahoma Constitution that all elections shall be free and equal. How can they truly be free and equal if political parties control who their voters are?

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2022/06/05/oklahoma-gop-has-double-digit-registration-edge-all-congressional-districts-republicans-voting/9944985002/?gnt-cfr=1

04/10/2022

It is vital that you reach out to your State Representative and Senator and tell them to not make citizen initiatives more difficult. The current crop of GOP legislators hate that Oklahomans legalized medical ma*****na and expanded health care access via this process and want to prevent such measures from even getting on the ballot.

Bills moving through the Legislature could block getting a question on the ballot through Oklahoma’s initiative and referendum process.

12/03/2021

Every November, Oklahoma allows recognized parties to decide if they will allow voters registered as Independent to vote in their primaries for the next election cycle. This year, the Democratic Party has announced that Independent voters can vote in their primaries. The Republican and Libertarian parties have decided to keep their primaries closed to only voters registered to their respective parties.

All Three Oklahoma Qualified Parties Retain Same Rules on Who Can Vote in their Primaries Posted on December 3, 2021 by Richard Winger Oklahoma has three qualified parties, Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian. In Oklahoma, all qualified parties nominate by primary. All parties are expected to te...

11/11/2021

Every year, more and more evidence rises to show that US elections are not beneficial to large parts of the public. The two dominant parties are not representative of all people.

Over the years, we have made great strides is pushing back and breaking through the duopoly stranglehold on Oklahoma elections. But there is more that needs done.

The division is far more complicated than a split between Republicans and Democrats, according to the Pew Research Center. Here are the differences in ideology on race, economics and government.

11/02/2021

The Republican controlled State Legislature has finally decided on how it wants to gerrymander Congressional District 5 so that no Democrat can win it again. They have chopped up Oklahoma County to weaken the voting power of the many Democratic voters who live there.

This is a clear abuse of power and violates the Oklahoma Constitution's demand that all elections be free and equal. It is clear that Republican members of the Legislature believe that Republican voters should be more equal than Democratic and Independent voters and Republican candidates for Congress be more equal than Democratic candidates.

It is long past time that Oklahoma switch to an independent redistricting committee that ensures that no single party controls the process.

New lines will turn Oklahoma’s Congressional District 5 from a purple district to a solidly Republican one.

10/21/2021

Oklahoma is in the middle of redistricting, the process of drawing new legislative and Congressional districts. During this process, all eyes are watching how the Oklahoma Republican controlled legislature does with Congressional District 5, which covers Oklahoma County, and was most recently the district represented by Democrat Kendra Horn.

The majority of proposals chop this district up with the goal of making sure that no Democrats win it in the future. Only a handful of proposals leave the district somewhat competitive.

Oklahoma’s only competitive congressional district could return to firm Republican control — or give Democrats the best chance they’ve seen in years.

06/24/2021

Congressional Representative Beyer has introduced a bill in the House that would require the following:

1: Establishing multi-member districts in states with multiple representatives.
2: Require Ranked Choice Voting for electing US Representatives and US Senators
3: Requires Independent Redistricting Committees made up of equal numbers of members of the two major parties in a state as well as Independent/minor party voters.

The bill already has 7 Co-sponsors.

If this bill were to pass, it would go a long way toward making elections more fair.

04/09/2021

The Oklahoma Libertarian Party, Oklahoma's newest political party, now has 5 people in elected political office.

Congratulations to Troy Brooks, elected to Alva City Council!