Education On Dwindling Voter Rights

J.D. DENNIS/The GDH

Norma Sapp of the Oklahomans for Initiative Rights was traveling through Guymon on Monday, April 27, to help educate Oklahomans of their rights being whittled away. Her tool to gain the attention and help raise awareness over this problem was a 10-foot replica of the state on a trailer, being pulled around.

By J.D. DENNIS
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The Oklahoma state legislature makes it far from easy for citizens to place issues on the ballot for others to vote on.
Oklahoma's Constitution gives citizens the right to petition to place issues on the ballot for others to vote on. This right is being taken away, bit by bit, from the citizens without them even knowing it. An example of how difficult it is to get an initiative through the ballot for the state is the fact that in the last decade, only three of them have been passed. The most recent one was the initiative that outlawed chicken fights in the state of Oklahoma.
The state now has the most restrictive ballot initiative and referendum process in the entire nation. It has the highest signature requirement in the country and the citizens are only allowed 90 days to gather the ones required. Currently, the amount of signatures to qualify to ballot is tied to the Presidential election, so in turn it requires over 200,000 signatures. There is a chance to change this, however.
There is currently two bills in the state legislature to help reform the ballot and initiative process and keep the Oklahoman citizens rights protected. These bills (Senate Bill-852 and House Bill-2246) will extend the time allotted to gather signatures from 90 days to one year and correct the process to collect signatures.
92 percent of the citizens in this state support an open initiative and referendum process.
In an attempt to inform that 92 percent of what is happening and what is being done to prevent it, Norma Sapp of the Oklahomans for Initiative Rights has been traveling through the state with a 10-foot tall replica of Oklahoma and taking signatures at certain times and locations to help grow the campaign. The float has made it through Laverne, Boise City, Guymon, Woodward, and Shattuck out of the area so far. They will be visiting many more places throughout the rest of the month to help raise awareness.
There is still time to help the two bills in state legislature, but not much. The bills only have until May 18 to receive support. All concerned citizens are asked to call their state senator or representative and tell them to support the bill and reform the restrictive initiative process so that it will give voters time to petition. The local representative for the area is Gus Blackwell who can be contacted at (580) 349-2263. The area state senator is Bryce Marlatt and he can be contacted at (405) 521-5626 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it via email.
To help out the cause for the rights of everyone in the state, one can call the state legislature today. The House number is (405) 521-2711 and the Senate number is (405) 524-0126.
There's not much time left.
For more information, visit LetOklahomaVote.org.