Election Integrity/Reform Series – Part IV Recommendations for Amending Title 26 and more

This article is part IV of a series (here’s the plan and links to previous articles):

Part I – The Background

Part II – OKGOP Platform and Resolutions

Part III – Problems with the Oklahoma Election Board 

Special Election Notice: If You See Something – Say Something!

Part IV – Recommendations for Amending Title 26 and more (this article)

When I began studying election anomalies and becoming aware of the problems with our very own state election board, I found that the rules for this area of government are found in Oklahoma Statutes – Title 26.

So I set about to read this document and made some notes as I read about things that bother me:

26-4-109 paying DMV for each valid voter registration –  why?

26-4-118.1 National change of address section lacks teeth

26-16-123 re current efforts on registration anomalies – could easily be referred to DA

26-20-104 looks to me to be in conflict with how it is currently being done at district and county conventions – what am I missing?

26-22-101 emergency powers troubles me in general looks like lots of holes that need to be closed in this section

These items are minor in comparison, however, as to how our Election Board Secretary is selected. He is appointed!

The State Senate President Pro Temp is selected in a secret caucus. The Pro Temp then selects the Senate Secretary, who, per Title 26-2-101.6 automatically becomes the State Election Board Secretary. This process violates that voters have a right to transparency, and to have a say in the selection of the most powerful single official overseeing our elections.

Vince Scofus (from Thoughts on Amending Title 26)

And then you add on top of that the recent punishment of county election board member for failure to certify and ‘uncertifiable’ election results. See full story in Part III of this series. Title 26-2-107, 112, and 114 gives total authority to the State Election Board and State Secretary to appoint or remove any member of a county election board, with no requirement to state a reason. This is NOT bottom up government!

At a minimum county election board members should be given procedures whereby they may report potential problems and recommend solutions both before and after elections are conducted, and prior to certifying the results. Those board members should not be punished for making good faith attempts to correct issues.

Vince Scofus (from Thoughts on Amending Title 26)

Beyond Title 26, there is a lot of cleanup that will require legislative action. I will briefly mention several areas that need to be addressed as rapidly as possible.

1. Consolidate Elections – I have worked for years to get elections consolidated to a maximum of 2 times per year. I cannot fathom that we why we would need elections more frequently than that from tp to bottom, local to federal elections. The cost of an election alone should force this decision.
2. Cleanup Voter Rolls – there seems to be the thinking in my county that this can only happen at certain times of the year. This should be an ongoing process. Our voter rolls should be pristine! I want a process for registered voters to officially report anomalies and get things cleaned up routinely all throughout the year!
3. Absentee Ballots – there seem to be a lot of problems surrounding the processing of these ballots. The use of absentee ballots should be minimized or eliminated.
4. Dark Money – there must be a process for eliminating money outside of a voting jurisdiction influencing the process unduly. We don’t need to have to spend thousands of dollars in local elections combating outside monied interests. The more people become aware of this problem, the less they like it.
5. Voting Machines vs Paper Ballots – I know lots of people would like to eliminate machine counting completely. At a minimum we must retain paper ballots and audit a certain percentage of every election.

It is my sincere hope, that we remain vigilant in watching over our election processes. That we make sure people of integrity represent us in all elective and appointed positions. This will take an ongoing effort by all of us! If I know of legislation in the works on election reform, then I will add to this series in the future.

Special thanks to Wendi Montgomery Dial, Jenni White, and Vince Scofus for their assistance with this series.

Sandra Crosnoe for Okgrassroots.com (original content)