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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What other states have closed primaries?

Oklahoma is one of only 11 states with closed primaries. The other 39 have some form of an open primary in which independents are allowed to vote.  


Are we proposing moving to a Louisiana-style system?

No. Oklahoma United is proposing an "open primary" which is not what Louisiana uses. Louisiana has a “one and done” system that eliminates primaries altogether. Louisianans vote in November and there is no subsequent match between two candidates unless a candidate fails to receive over 50 percent of votes cast, in which case there is a run off election.

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


Is an open primary a new and risky system? 

No! Every city and town in Oklahoma already uses an open primary ballot today when they vote for mayor. Not coincidentally, local government approval ratings and electorate satisfaction are consistently much higher than they are for the State Legislature, which is elected via the current closed primary system. 


Oklahomans are familiar with open primary ballots and correctly view them as simple, straightforward, and fair.


Feel free to email us at info@ok-united.org with additional questions.

HOW DOES THE CURRENT PRIMARY SYSTEM WORK IN OKLAHOMA?

Oklahoma currently has a closed primary system.

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.

WHY DO WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR CURRENT PRIMARY SYSTEM?

Voters should be able to participate in elections they're paying for with their tax dollars.

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.

Will open primaries save us some money?

Likely so. SQ 836 will eliminate primary runoffs!

As just one example, in April 2025 an election was held for the open State House District 71 seat.  397 Republicans voted in person.  No Republican candidate reached over 50%, so we -all we- taxpayers will be footing the bill for an extra Republican primary election when, if history tells us anything, we can expect even fewer Republicans to show up.  Costs for this partisan runoff will well exceed $9000.


Why are we doing this?  Let's cut some wasteful spending here and have one, unified primary where the top two vote-getters will qualify for a general election. 

OKLAHOMA ELECTIONS BY THE NUMBERS

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. 

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