More than 1 million Oklahomans voted in the November 3 General Election, but participation fell below the last two gubernatorial elections, according to State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax.
Both the number of ballots cast and the turnout percentage were lower than in 2022 and 2018. Ziriax said strong early voting had raised hopes for greater overall participation.
“While the high turnout for early voting this year created optimism that participation numbers might exceed previous years, unfortunately, this did not equate to a high voter turnout overall,” Ziriax said in a November 4 statement.
Ziriax also addressed technical problems that delayed election-night reporting in Cleveland and Comanche counties. He said the counties experienced separate issues transmitting results to the State Election Board, rather than problems with the results themselves.
Cleveland County used a backup system to upload its results. As of Ziriax’s November 4 statement, Comanche County’s results were still being manually entered into the reporting system.
“While I understand the eagerness to have quick results, as election officials our objective is to ensure that every vote is counted and properly reported,” Ziriax said.
He thanked voters, poll workers and election officials, as well as the technical staff who worked overnight to address the reporting delays.
County election results are scheduled for certification after 5 p.m. Friday, November 6. State and federal results are scheduled for certification Tuesday, November 10.
