Election Integrity

SB 1690

Authored by Senator Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow). This is the most important bill regarding election integrity that was filed this session. It was filed in a special session late last year and was not heard. This bill would require the appointment of an independent third party to conduct a forensic audit of the Nov 2020 election in the State of Oklahoma in designated counties, establish deadlines for the completion of said audit, require submission of a report, and designate funding for such an audit. This bill died in the Appropriations Committee after being kicked there by the Rules Committee.

SJR 47

Authored by Senator Warren Hamilton (R-McCurtain). This Joint Resolution would have voters in Oklahoma decide on a Constitutional Amendment to the State Constitution requiring post election audits permanently after every election. These would be random but guarantee that once every 10 years all counties would be audited. This bill died in the, you guessed it, Rules Committee.

Did any election integrity legislation make it out of any Senate Committee and to the floor for a vote? As of today, March 19, 2022, one bill has make it to the floor of the Senate, been voted on, and passed.

SB 1637

Authored by Senator John Haste (R-Broken Arrow). Co Authored by Representative Mark Lepak (R-Claremore) of the House. This bill amends 26 O.S. 2021 Sections 14-108.1, 16-105, and 16-123, and puts the Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma in charge of reports of election fraud and irregularities in the state. Should they choose not to investigate the reports, they will be designated to the appropriate county DA for investigation. Currently, the Attorney General is not explicitly listed as an investigating authority for election fraud in Oklahoma. This is an important change in the election law which allows a statewide elected official to determine how reports of election fraud are investigated. The vote on the floor was 42 Yeas, 6 Nays. It now goes to the House for a vote. On April 6th, this bill passed the Elections and Ethics Committee of the House intact.

Maybe if Haste had authored the other Senate bills, they’d have made it out of the Rules Committee? The behavior of the Rules Committee certainly begs the question. This allows the Senate leadership to claim that they acted on election integrity in their body, without doing what is necessary to address the two most important issues that govern elections in Oklahoma, absentee ballots and making the machines more transparent to the voters of the state. Not only that, the bill that came out of the Senate has a provision that is addressed also in the House by a bill filed by Representative Nicole Miller (R-Edmond).

The largest transgression by the Rules Committee and Appropriations Committee against the people of Oklahoma is the abject failure, given what is being uncovered in other states, including red states, to prove to the people of the state of Oklahoma, given plenty of suspicion in the data from the 2020 election from THIS state, and the condition of our voter registration rolls brought to their attention by citizen groups investigating the 2020 election, that our elections are indeed the best and most secure in the country by killing SB 1690 and SJR 47, which would ensure their integrity permanently through regular forensic audits.

The House

The House isn’t faring much better when it comes to getting critical election integrity bills out of committee, unless they keep the status quo when it comes to machines, farming out our voter registration rolls to an unelected committee comprised of 31 individuals, 30 of which aren’t from Oklahoma, or making small changes to absentee voter requirements. All progress is important, but some progress is more important than the rest. It’s the opposite of progress to keep in place a system that facilitates further use of machines and the sharing of sensitive voter information in our elections.

HB 3677

Authored by Representative Sean Roberts (R-Hominy). This bill, before amended in committee, would require all Oklahomans to reregister to vote by 2023. The amended version provides protections to poll watchers and verified voter registrations. The reregistration language was stripped out in committee, perhaps the most important legislation filed this session to clean up our voter rolls. This bill passed the Elections and Ethics Committee on March 2, 2022.

HB 3365

Authored by Representative Eric Roberts (R-Oklahoma City). This bill sets stricter rules for mailing out voter registration cards, sets rules for cancelling a voter registration, requirements if a voter’s registration is listed at an address with five or more other registered voters, rules for reporting deaths to the State Election Board, and rules for voting if a voter’s registration has been listed as inactive for problems in the personal information listed above. This bill passed the House on March 14, 2022.

HB 3046

Authored by Representative Mark Lepak (R-Claremore). This bill prohibits the use of private funds for elections. It requires elections be paid for by public funds. It passed the House of Representatives March 10, 2022.

HB 3364

Authored by Representative Eric Roberts (R-Hominy). This bill provides rules for applying for an absentee ballot electronically. It passed the House March 9, 2022.

HB 3321

Authored by Representative Nicole Miller (R-Edmond). This bill requires ballots to be printed on paper and moves the investigation of election fraud and complaints to the Attorney General’s office first, then to the local DA’s office should the Attorney General decide not to pursue it at the state level. It prohibits the appearance of poll watchers over electronic device and prohibits the connection of devices to the internet. It passed the Elections and Ethics Committee on Feb 21, 2022. On April 6th, it passed the Senate Rules Committee amended, missing Section 5, which was removed. Section 5 is the provision that sends election claims to the Attorney General.

HB 2974

Authored by Representative Jim Olsen (R-Roland). This bill requires the State Election Board check the voter registration database and report addresses with 10 or more voter registrations to local DA’s for investigation and possible criminal referral. This measure passed the House of Representatives on March 8, 2022.

While the passage of all of these measures in the House is important, there were a few bills that were allowed to die in committee, such as HB 3154, authored by Representative Kevin West (R-Moore). This bill would have required voters to be notified of particular information by mail before an election, such as what will be on the upcoming ballot. HB2975, authored by Representative Jim Olsen, would have outlined legal boundaries for cancelling a voter’s registration. And where is the House legislation calling for a forensic audit of the 2020 election, which we know warrants an investigation, given the 77 county data that has been gathered and analyzed by Oklahoma Liberty & Integrity Group as well as others independently investigating elections in Oklahoma?

None of the measures that passed out of committee in the House would make a dent to solve the problems of election integrity as we know of them in the State of Oklahoma today. And the measures that would have gone a long way to securing our elections died in committee of a supposedly conservative GOP led state legislature. Now, why is that? And who are sitting on these committees killing the bills we need that would give the voters and citizens of Oklahoma peace of mind that our elections are truly safeguarded in this state? Who in this state needs phone calls and possible primarying by the GOP membership and citizens in their districts?