A group called Oklahoma United has filed an initiative petition with the Secretary of State’s Office which would ask voters to change the state’s primary election system. If it makes the ballot and voters approve, State Question 835 would change the system from a closed to open primary.
Currently, the Republicans, Democrats, and Libertarians have closed primaries. Democrats have allowed Independent voters to participate in their primaries of late.
The change would put all candidates onto the same ballot regardless of party. The top two candidates would move onto the general election.
The Vote Yes 935 campaign argues the current system is one of the causes of Oklahoma’s current voter turnout percentage ranking at the bottom.
“Oklahoma is dead last in the nation when it comes to voting participation. That’s because we are intentionally excluding people from primary elections while holding November elections that are virtually meaningless. That’s a recipe for citizen apathy and democratic decline. State Question 835 is the solution,” said Margaret Kobos, Oklahoma United Founder and CEO.
Don’t count Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell, who is a former Oklahoma Republican Party chair, among those supporting the effort to change the primary system.
“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.
“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. 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,” said Pinnell.
Once the Secretary of State’s Office sets a start date, Oklahoma United will have 90 days to collect nearly 173-thousand signatures for a chance to make the ballot.
