SQ 836 News - The Oklahoman 6/25/2025

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Supreme Court justices on Tuesday questioned the timing of the state Republican Party’s challenge of a proposed ballot measure that could open primary elections.

The state’s highest court heard about an hour and a half of oral arguments from both supporters and opponents of State Question 836, which proposes overhauling the state’s primary election system. Justices did not immediately issue a ruling. 

Vice Chief Justice Dana Kuehn said the Oklahoma Constitution places all political power with the people of the state and that the court has affirmed that it will not violate this provision by dictating what the people get to put on the ballot except in rare occasions. 

“There’s no tension until it’s a law or a constitutional change that then someone challenges and brings to us, and then we decide,” she said. “We don’t even know if they’re going to get enough signatures. We don’t know if the gist is okay. We don’t know any of those things. And I just want to understand why you think we should be here right now.”

But Benjamin Sisney, an attorney representing the Oklahoma Republican Party and Ronda Vuillemont-Smith, a former Tulsa GOP chair, who are challenging the measure, argued that the challenge is not premature. He said if the question is allowed to proceed, it would make “radical” changes to state elections. Sisney also questioned the constitutionality of opening the state’s closed primary system to any registered voter.

“It creates the false appearance that candidates are endorsed by or affiliated with the party, co-opting or appropriating the party’s name and platform,” Sisney said. “This is what clearly, manifestly violates the Constitution. The United States Supreme Court has consistently protected the associational rights of political parties.”

The proposed state question, which needs nearly 173,000 signatures to make it onto a future ballot, seeks to open primary elections to all voters. Voters would choose one candidate for each office and the top two voter-getters advance to the general election regardless of political party. Presidential primary elections would be unaffected. 

While Oklahoma primaries are currently closed, parties can choose to open them to 466,000 registered independent voters. Only Democrats currently do. 

Supporters argue that opening the primaries will allow more people to participate in elections, which are often decided in a primary or primary runoffs.

They argued Tuesday that the state question doesn’t affect the First Amendment rights of political parties at all.

Read from The Oklahoman. 

OKLAHOMA CITY — Supporters of State Question 836 (SQ 836) appeared before the Oklahoma Supreme Court today to defend the constitutionality of their proposal to bring open primaries to the state.

Delivering oral arguments on behalf of the petitioners was former U.S. Attorney Robert McCampbell of the firm GableGotwals. McCampbell pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2008 decision in Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party—authored by Justice Clarence Thomas—which upheld a nearly identical system as the one proposed by SQ 836. Like Washington’s top-two primary, SQ 836 would allow all candidates to appear on the same ballot and all voters to participate in an open primary election, regardless of party registration.

Tony Stobbe, a petitioner for SQ 836, an independent voter and a retired U.S. Coast Guard Commander was on-hand, along with over a dozen SQ 836 supporters, to witness the proceedings.

“This is not a partisan issue,” said Stobbe. “Let the people vote. That’s all we’re asking. The only reason party insiders are trying to block SQ 836 in court is because they know it has real momentum. Oklahomans are ready for a system where every voter gets to vote in every election—and the political elites are clearly scared of that.”

The lawsuit—Oklahoma Republican Party v. Setter et al.—argues that SQ 836 is unconstitutional, but petitioners maintain the challenge has no merit. Today’s arguments made clear that SQ 836 does not nominate party candidates or restrict parties from endorsing whomever they choose. Instead, it simply changes how publicly funded primaries function: by giving every registered voter a voice.

If the Court rules in favor of the petitioners, supporters will begin gathering signatures to place SQ 836 on the ballot and give voters the final say.