Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

Although the Oklahoma Legislature made several anti-voter changes this past session, it also established a hard stop voter registration system and launched an online voter registration portal. Therefore, Oklahoma received a C+ on this year’s progress report.

Looking Back

Where Oklahoma Started at the Beginning of 2023

• Automatic Voter Registration: No
• Online Voter Registration: DMV ID
• Same-Day Registration: No
• Restoration of Rights: Parole and/or Probation Disenfranchisement
• Vote by Mail: No-Excuse
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: No
• Early Voting Opportunities: In-Person Absentee
• ID Requirements: ID Requested, but not Required

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for Oklahoma as of 2022, we considered the state a bottom tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2023 activity against other bottom tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2022): 35th
• EPI Score (2020): 49th
• CLC State Scorecard (2022): 3/10
• MAP Democracy Rating (2022): LOW

2023: This Past Year

Legislative Action

During the 2023 session, the Legislature made a significant improvement to the voter registration process at driver’s license offices and instituted new protections for election workers.

• S 1040 revises the current voter registration process at Service Oklahoma to ensure that an individual is not provided the opportunity to register to vote if the applicant provides documentation indicating they are not a U.S. citizen.
• S 481 establishes new misdemeanors for threatening/intimidating election workers or impersonating election workers.

However, most of the election laws Oklahoma passed last session aimed to further restrict voter access.

• H 2682 prohibits the use of private funding for election administration and institutes criminal penalties for violations of the law.
• S 376 requires an individual assisting a voter with their mail ballot to include their own name and address on the voter’s affidavit.
• S 377 requires voter registrations to be canceled if a voter is excused from jury duty for non citizenship and it establishes a 60 day waiting period to re-register if a voter voluntarily cancels their own voter registration for any reason.
• H 2052 limits the state’s membership in a multi state voter list maintenance organization. It also removes specific reference to ERIC, currently the only existing list maintenance organization that has proven to be an effective tool to keep voter rolls secure and up-to-date.
• H 1950 requires the secretary of the state election board to obtain death records from the Social Security Administration to identify potentially deceased voters and submit all possible matches to county election boards for possible removal.

Implementation Action

• Oklahoma successfully launched its online voter registration system this summer.