DEL CITY, Okla. – According to Oklahoma Watch, the turnout to Oklahoma’s most recent election might be the lowest ever recorded in the state. Only 40.7 percent of registered voters, and a bare 27 percent of all eligible persons, voted in the 2014 election.
This low turnout, however, did have an unintended side effect: it effectively lowered the barrier to entry for third-party candidates and petitioners for state initiatives to get on the ballot in 2016.
But even with the lower requirements presented by lower voter turnout, many see Oklahoma’s ballot access laws as too restrictive. “Oklahoma ballot access laws are absurd and the worst in the nation,” said Carla Howell, Political Director of the Libertarian Party.
Howell is not alone in her view; the Oklahoman Editorial Board recently published an editorial stating that the Oklahoma initiative petition process needs to change, and a report by News9 found Oklahoma’s petitioning process more arduous than the processes in Oklahoma’s neighboring states.
The Signature Problem
Oklahoma, like many states, bases access to electoral ballots on signatures. If an organization or petition gets enough signatures in a certain time frame, it can appear on the ballot.
The number of signatures to collect varies depending on the goal. For a new political party to appear on the ballot, their petition must include a number of signatures equal to 5 percent of the last gubernatorial or presidential vote. On the other hand, petitions to change the Oklahoma constitution must collect 15 percent of the vote in signatures. Furthermore, they must collect these signatures within a 90-day timeframe.
“There has never been an initiative petition process in Oklahoma led solely by volunteers that has been successful,” said Take Shelter Oklahoma’s attorney David Slane. Take Shelter Oklahoma petitioned twice for a ballot initiative to authorize state bonds for the construction of storm shelters in public schools. Both times, their signature drives fell short of the required signature count.
In the 2014 election, voters cast a total of 823,761 votes, according to the State Election Board. This number puts the 5 percent figure for new parties at about 41,000 signatures and the 15 percent figure for Constitutional amendments at about 123,000 to appear on the 2016 ballot.
It’s notable that the count of 823,761 votes is about 20 percent lower than the 1,034,767 votes cast in the 2012 presidential election. That means all signature requirements for petitioners and political parties will go by the same proportion – about 20 percent.
This may seem like good news for Oklahoma petitioners, but critics say that Oklahoma’s ballot access laws are too restrictive regardless of the total vote.
“I am not sure we will see many more initiatives than we have had in the past,” said E. Zachary Knight, the director of Oklahomans for Ballot Access Reform. “Oklahoma's requirements are still very high for most initiatives. With initiatives requiring many more signatures and only 90 days to collect them, very few are likely to succeed without outside financial support.”
This sentiment was echoed by Wallace Collins, the Chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party. “I think [Oklahoma’s] signature process is restrictive,” Collins said, “but many groups don’t discover that until they try to get on the ballot. They may have support but no funding. It’s almost impossible to get on the ballot without professional help.”
The costs required for gathering signatures can be substantial. Ballotpedia, an online wiki-style encyclopedia tracking American elections, estimated that in 2010 the cost-per-required signature in Oklahoma was $4.31. This estimate was based on the costs needed for petitioners for State Question 744, related to state funding for public schools, to collect the 138,970 required signatures to get the measure on the ballot. (The measure was later defeated in the general election.)
Using this figure, the cost to a political candidate to get on the ballot would be $176,710, and the cost to put a ballot measure to change the State Constitution on the ballot today would be $530,130. These figures represent a minimum cost – in practice, the expense may be much higher.
“Take Shelter Oklahoma looked into the cost of paying a firm to collect signatures and the least expensive bid exceeded $600,000,” Slane said about the signature gathering process. “Clearly this is an example of money controlling politics and policies impacting everyday citizens.”
Other Challenges
Signature collection struggles aren’t the only part of Oklahoma’s ballot access laws that pose difficulties to petitioners. Equally challenging is the vote retention test for a designated political party to remain on the ballot in subsequent elections.
Richard Winger of Ballot Access News explained the problem. “The Oklahoma retention test, at 10 percent of the last vote for the office at the top of the ballot (Governor and President) is tied for 2nd highest in the nation. The only state with a harder vote test is Alabama at 20 percent.”
The mechanics of the vote test are simple. If a party fails to gather the required percentage of votes in the general election, they lose their party status and must petition for ballot access all over again.
In 2014, two third-party candidates appeared on Oklahoma’s ballot for governor, both running as Independents. The first, Kimberly Willis, received 2.1 percent of the vote, while the second, Richard Prawdzienski, the former chair of the Oklahoma Libertarian Party, received 1.1 percent. Under current Oklahoma ballot law, neither candidate’s party would have been eligible to appear on the next ballot.
Despite the challenges, third party candidates and organizations remain undeterred. “Of course we plan to continue operations in Oklahoma,” Winger said, adding, “Voters are concerned about a lack of choices.”
Knight was also concerned about voter frustration and lack of representation. “Oklahoma, and the U.S., were designed to be a melting pot of political ideologies,” he said. “With a
growing number of voters in Oklahoma and around the US identifying as Independents, it is time that Oklahoma allows them to register and vote according to how they actually view politics and candidates.”
Unfortunately, the same low voter turnout that is making it easier for parties to gain access to the ballot is standing in the way of real political change. According to Knight, a small percentage of voters are representing the political direction of Oklahoma. “This past election, the governor was elected by fewer than 25 percent of the eligible voters in the state,” Knight said. “That means that a minority of voters chose the direction the rest of state will take for the next four years.”
Oklahoma’s Republican majority is perhaps the only group in the state not concerned about Oklahoma ballot access laws. The Oklahoma GOP leadership did not respond to requests for comment for this article; however, in a recent OETA report on ballot access laws, Republican Party Chair Paul Weston expressed no concern about the state’s ballot access laws. “If you are going to be viable enough, then go organize enough people together to where you can organize as a party and get your candidates on the ballot.” Weston added, “I think [the ballot thresholds] are just fine where they are.”
“We do think [the ballot process] should be opened up,” Wallace Collins said. “But it’s made more complicated by Republican control. I doubt they’re interested because it behooves them to leave it alone.”
Collins explained that the disparity in political funding is a major source of voter dissatisfaction in Oklahoma. “Republican candidates spent $17 million to $18 million in the last election,” Collins said. “Democratic candidates spent about $2.5 million. We were outspent by five or six to one, and that creates a defeatist attitude. People think their vote doesn’t matter when they see eight Republican commercials on TV to the Democrats’ one.”
The Future of Ballot Access
Are there any solutions to Oklahoma’s ballot access problems? Legislation is a possible answer, but it’s not clear where it would come from. “We don’t have any immediate plans to change ballot access laws,” Collins said. From Weston’s comments, it’s safe to say Republicans won’t be working on any change either.
“There is no single solution,” Knight said in regards to increasing voter turnout and changing ballot access laws. “If an individual's vote had greater weight in the election, more people would be inclined to vote.”
Another solution could be opening up the way Oklahoma petitioners can gather signatures. According to David Slane, “The main problem with the law as written is the obsolete notion that they only way to collect signatures is standing on a street corner with a clipboard. With today’s technology, an internet based signature process is verifiable, and could prove to be more accurate, timely, and less costly to the state.”
Still, Knight seemed hopeful that Oklahoma can change and that its ballots could become accessible to any party and organization. “As for voter awareness of the issue, I think that is rising,” Knight said. “People are noticing the lack of choices. Especially with Oklahoma having only 2 candidates for president in 3 elections in a row, people are making the connection. With the coming Presidential election, I think people can be easily mobilized for change.”
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Originally Posted by dannno
He was an OK State Senator at the time so he meant it, too. 
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