19th November 2024
By Barbara Hoberock
A proposed Oklahoma constitutional amendment filed Monday could open the state’s primaries.
Under the proposal, Oklahoma primaries would be open to all voters with the top two vote getters advancing to the general election. Voters would only be able to choose one candidate for each office.
“We are glad this day is finally here,” said former state Sen. A.J. Griffin, a Republican, during a Tuesday press conference announcing State Question 835. “We are all here today to support improving our democracy by reforming our closed, exclusionary system of primary elections.”
Supporters of the citizen-led initiative petition must collect 172,993 signatures in order to qualify it for a future ballot. Organizers hope to get the measure on the November 2026 ballot.
Oklahoma’s primaries are closed, but parties can choose to open them to independents. Only Democrats currently allow independents to vote in their primaries.
Many races are decided in the primary or primary runoff, leaving some voters with no candidate to pick in a general election, where voter turnout is higher.
“The elections actually are of little consequence most of the time,” Griffin said. She said 86% of Oklahoma federal, state and county offices either had no general election at all in November or the one election that was held was inconsequential because there were no representatives from the two major parties.
Griffin said the closed-primary system is unfair to independents, who make up 1 in 5 voters.
“This voting bloc is growing at a faster rate than either of the major parties,” Griffin said.
Closed primaries have resulted in low voter participation, the exclusion of some voters and increased polarization, supporters of reform efforts said.
Forcing candidates to face all voters increases accountability, supporters said.
Oklahoma United Founder and CEO Margaret Kobos said Oklahoma is last in the nation in eligible voter turnout. Oklahoma United is a nonpartisan group that supports open primaries.
She said the idea for the ballot initiative didn’t come from out of state, but was generated from conversations at her kitchen table.
The state question was filed Monday with the Secretary of State’s office by Anthony Stobbe of Edmond, Yvonne Galvan of Oklahoma City, and Kenneth Stetter of Tulsa.
“Over half of military service members, active duty and veterans, don’t affiliate with a political party,” said Stobbe, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. “They’re independent, like me, and in Oklahoma, that means we don’t get to vote in the election that matters.”
When he registered to vote after moving to Oklahoma, he was told he needed to pick a side before he could vote in the most meaningful election.
“Frankly, this seems highly undemocratic, not very American, and it really doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Ronda Vuillemont-Smith, chairwoman of the Tulsa County Republican Party, said she opposes the state question.
She said if open primaries were important, Democrats would have done it when they were in control of the state.
“This is a way of trying to water down our elections,” she said.
Republicans control all Oklahoma congressional seats, statewide elected office and the Legislature.