The Facts about Senate Bill 1027

In such a system, only voters registered with a particular party may vote in that party’s primary election.*

*Oklahoma law allows each political party to decide each election cycle whether to let independents to vote in their primaries. At times, the Democratic Party has allowed independents to vote, but this is not guaranteed or the case every election cycle.

There are many types of open primary systems. We support a unified ballot system. In this type of election, all candidates, regardless of party, run on one primary ballot with their party affiliation listed by their name. All registered voters, regardless of their party, then vote for their preferred candidate. The two candidates receiving the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, move to the general election.

The current system is particularly unfair to independents, who make up 20 percent of the voting population and are in many cases completely disenfranchised or forced to join a political party. Similarly, Republicans in heavily Democratic areas or Democrats in heavily Republican areas are often robbed of the chance to cast a meaningful vote.

Government functions better when we lessen the influence of political insiders and encourage candidates to be responsive to the will of all their constituents.

Voter turnout is the sign of a healthy democracy. Unfortunately, Oklahoma ranks LAST in voter turnout compared to other states, owing to a system that discourages competitive races and disenfranchises hundreds of thousands of voters.

Concerned citizens can file an initiative petition with the Oklahoma Secretary of State. After a period for the public to review the filing, the proponents of the new state question will have 90 days to collect 172, 993 signatures (15 percent of the total votes cast for governor in 2022). If the proponents are successful, Governor Kevin Stitt will set a date for an election. At that point, Oklahomans will vote on whether to move the state to an open primary system.

Louisiana has a “one and done” system that eliminates primaries altogether.  Louisianans vote only in November and if a candidate receives more than 50%, there is no subsequent match.  

Our proposal is to keep primaries, keep party labels, let all voters vote, and assure there are two candidates in a contested general election. 

In Nov. 2020 and Nov. 2024, Oklahoma’s voter participation rate was last in the nation. That’s indicative that something is seriously wrong with the way our democracy functions.

• The elections that most people participate in – our November elections – don’t matter. Yes, we just had a consequential presidential election. But when it comes to our state and local government, the November elections are of little consequence. For instance:

• Eighty-six percent of Oklahoma’s federal, state and county offices either had no general election or a general election that was rendered meaningless because there were not two major party candidates on the ballot.

• Only 6 of the 77 county sheriff posts were contested by members of both major parties.

• Every seat held by a Democrat in the State Legislature before November 5 will continue to be held by a Democrat; and every Republican seat held by a Republican will continue to be held by a Republican. 

• The system is most unfair to independents, who make up more than 1 in 5 Oklahoma voters. There are over 480,000 independents in the Sooner State as of 10/31/24, and this voting bloc is growing at a faster rate than either of our major parties. 

At least one nationally recognized expert on the U.S. Constitution said the bill's restrictions on the initiative process are unconstitutional. Robert McCampbell, an Oklahoma City attorney who specializes in constitutional law, wrote that the bill was unconstitutional.'

"The bill includes provisions that restrict petition circulators, prohibit out-of-state contributions, grant broad discretionary power to the secretary of state over citizen-initiated petitions, and retroactively change the procedure for initiative petitions. Each of these provisions conflicts with well-established legal precedent," McCampbell wrote in a four-page memo analyzing the measure.

The government, McCampbell said, is not free to "impose burdensome roadblocks to the citizen initiative process."

"The courts are unanimous that circulating a petition is 'core political speech' where First Amendment protection is at its 'zenith," he wrote. "The restrictions on core political speech embodied in SB 1027 cannot survive scrutiny under the First Amendment."

Other opponents of the bill, echoing McCampbell, said SB 1027 would "make it dramatically harder for Oklahomans to bring issues directly to a vote, undermining one of the most fundamental avenues for public participation in policymaking."

"(The) vote to advance SB 1027 is a disappointing step backward for democracy in Oklahoma. By making it harder for citizens to bring issues to the ballot, lawmakers are silencing the voices of everyday Oklahomans and limiting public participation in policymaking," said Margaret Kobos, founder of Oklahoma United. "The right to petition is fundamental to our state's history and this bill adds unnecessary barriers that will make it nearly impossible for grassroots efforts to succeed."

Read the story here.

Former State Senator (Republican) AJ Griffin explains open primaries and State Question 836 before the CommonSense Club meeting in Shawnee.

"Oklahoma taxpayers pay for the current closed primary elections, which is unfair to the tens of thousands of voters who are unable to cast a ballot because they are of a different party or unaffiliated. This would stop the disenfranchisement.

Elections would focus more on the candidates and their views than on their parties. Candidates would not have to get the blessing of a political party for voters to consider them for office."

Read the op-ed here.

Pat McFerron with Yes on 835 joined The Hot Seat with News On 6 political analyst Scott Mitchell to discuss Oklahoma's low voter turnout in the Presidential election and how a reform of Oklahoma's primary system could boost voter turnout.

To address this issue, Mitchell's guest, Pat McFerron, discussed the efforts of the "Yes on 835" group to reform Oklahoma's primary system. McFerron explained, "We're going to get rid of the exclusionary Republican and Democrat primaries and create one ballot. It's basically, it's how every city, town, community in Oklahoma does it."

Watch the interview here.