20th November 2024
Oklahomans may soon have a chance to vote on whether or not to open the state's closed primary system.
Supporters say open primaries would boost Oklahoma’s notoriously low voter turnout by giving all voters a chance to cast ballots in races that only attract candidates from a single party, most often the GOP.
Margaret Kobos, CEO and founder of Oklahoma United for Progress, announced the filing of an initiative petition seeking to open primaries during a news conference Tuesday. It will be known as State Question 835. Supporters are aiming to have the question on the ballot in November 2026, the next statewide general election.
“All voters will be included. All voters will matter. All voters get more choices,” Kobos said during the event. “Candidates will compete, and they are accountable to all of us.”
Currently, Republican and Libertarian primary races in Oklahoma only allow voters registered in their respective parties to cast a ballot. Unaffiliated voters can participate in Democratic primaries.
In an open primary, all candidates, regardless of party, run on one ballot. The two candidates receiving the most votes would move to the general election.
Advocates of an open primary system hope that by allowing every Oklahoma voter, regardless of party affiliation, to participate in primary elections, it will attract more voters to the polls.
But opponents already are calling SQ 835 an attempt to weaken the state's Republican voting base.
"Oklahoma is a conservative state, and Republicans hold all the statewide and federally elected positions and super majorities in the legislature for a simple reason: our values and principles represent the will of our state’s voters," Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell said in a statement.
During the Nov. 5 general election, about 64% of Oklahoma's electorate participated, down from 69% in 2020 and 68% in 2016. A report from the University of Florida found just 53.4% of Oklahomans who met the age and citizenship requirements to vote ultimately cast ballots this year, ranking the state dead last in voter turnout.
States like California, Washington and Nebraska have forms of open primary systems. All three of these states had higher voter turnout rates during the Nov. 5 elections by about 9-17 percentage points, according to the University of Florida’s data.
In Oklahoma, 86% of federal, state and county offices either had no general election in November or elections without representatives from both major parties, said Ann “AJ” Griffin, former Republican state senator and current Potts Family Foundation CEO.
Just six of 77 county sheriff’s elections had members of both parties on the ballot in November, Griffin added. In the state legislative races, no seat that was held by a Democrat or Republican before Nov. 5 flipped to the other party, she said.
Griffin said she believed the current election system is most unfair to independent voters, who make up about 20% of the state’s electorate. There is no recognized Independent Party in Oklahoma, and just the state's Democratic Party allows voters who register as independents to cast ballots in primary races.
After the secretary of state sets a start date, the campaign committee supporting the effort, "Vote Yes 835," will have 90 days to collect at least 172,993 valid signatures from voters to qualify the state question for the ballot.
Some prominent Republicans have voiced support for an open primary system, including Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, former U.S. Rep. Mickey Edwards, Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn and Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt.
“Cities in Oklahoma like mine are known for our dynamic and effective governance, and the main reason is that we have an electoral system that allows everyone to vote,” Holt said in a statement. “Our voters get to see all the candidates and our candidates have to face all the voters."
Holt’s support for the initiative petition was criticized by Anthony Ferate, the former chairman of the Oklahoma GOP, who said in a post on the social media site X that open primaries would harm all parties.
Ferate also chairs an election threat and campaign finance task force formed by Gov. Kevin Stitt earlier this year. In a report issued earlier this year, the task force was critical of so-called "jungle" primaries, an apparent reference to the open primary system. It reported "primaries were designed for political parties to advance a particular nominee to the general election for consideration against the nominee of other political parties."
It complained "jungle" primaries elsewhere have resulted in general elections with two candidates of the same party on the ballot.
But Kobos, of Oklahoma United, said the goal of reforming the state’s primary election system isn’t about political parties; it’s about access.
“The minute you start talking about parties and like how parties feel, you're kind of missing the point,” Kobos said. “We’re trying to connect personal opinions and issues to the elected officials. It has nothing to do with parties.”
Anthony Stobbe, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and independent voter, spoke at the news conference in support of the initiative petition.
He said when he moved to Oklahoma in 2022 after spending a decade at sea, he appreciated the sense of community and respect for veterans, but felt the message sent to him by the state’s current primary election system was: “Your opinions don't matter.”
“To add insult to injury, my taxpayer dollars and your taxpayer dollars pay to fund the very election that I can’t vote in," Stobbe said. "It's time to fix this.”