22nd November 2024, Enid News & Eagle Editorial Board
Even though the voting bloc is growing in Oklahoma, many independents still are left out in the cold come election day.
A new petition drive is hoping to change that by opening primaries with a constitutional amendment. If the proposal can pass judicial scrutiny, the organizers will need to gather at least 172,993 certified signatures to get it on a ballot as State Question 835.
The idea is that each primary race would be open to every voter and those voters would pick two people during the primary who would advance to the general election. It's a lofty goal, with even the initial effort drawing opposition from high places.
“At best, the push to mandate open primaries is a solution in search of a problem, and at worst, it is a thinly veiled attempt to weaken Republican voters in choosing the nominees to represent our Party,” Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell posted to social media. “Oklahoma is a conservative state, and Republicans hold all the statewide and federally elected positions and supermajorities in the legislature for a simple reason: our values and principles represent the will of our state’s voters. Every county in Oklahoma voted for Donald Trump
in November. As a former Republican state party chairman and State Party Director at the RNC, I would hope the current primary structure would incentivize independents and conservative Democrats to register as Republicans and help choose our party’s nominees.”
Pinnell’s message was endorsed by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
It makes sense that if you’re holding power you wouldn’t want to do anything to jeopardize it. It's fair to criticize the effort, but should people be afraid to let the electorate vote on it? It might prove just how many registered voters have been missing out.
All registered voters in Oklahoma should be able to weigh in on who represents them in government, but many races don’t even make it to the general election. Even if it doesn’t mean wide open primaries, it has always seemed odd that our sheriffs, district attorneys,
treasurers and such, should have to be partisan. And those seem like positions where everyone should have a say regardless of political affiliation.
So, while we wouldn’t venture to remotely guess how successful the campaign will be for open primaries, we can’t fault the effort. Oklahoma’s petition process has a proven track
record for promoting the will of the people.