In Oklahoma, primary elections are partially closed – voters unaffiliated with a political party are able to cast ballots in Democratic, but not Republican, primaries.
About 100 people gathered at The Press Restaurant in Oklahoma City to hear a group of moderate political leaders call for open primaries. The event was hosted by Oklahoma United.
Oklahoma is one of sixteen states that hold closed, or partially closed, primaries.
Advocates for open primaries say that they increase voter participation, reduce partisan extremism and make elections less costly.
"If we do something like this, I think it will get more people out voting, more selections on the ballot. And it's just a good way to get people involved and make them realize that their voice does matter," said Leslie Osborn, Oklahoma’s Republican Commissioner of Labor.
Oklahoma United and the panelists will continue their campaign for open primaries. They encouraged attendees to do so too.
After eight years, the Oklahoma State Election Board has launched an online voter registration system.
Oklahomans can now register to vote online, after their data is cross-matched with a state ID. In 2015, the state legislature approved then-Oklahoma City Senator David Holt’s bill authorizing the election board to create this online system.
Technical issues at the Department of Public Safety pushed back the registration system’s completion date. Election officials say that delay put implementation outside of their control.
Legislation stalled to place a deadline of March 2021 on the launch.
Back in 2015, Holt said an online system is more secure and has better fraud protection. Holt hoped that online registration would also draw in younger voters.
Multiple rounds of heavy rain have made this one of the wettest July’s on record.
As of Tuesday morning, the Oklahoma City metro area recorded a whopping 8.27 inches of rain for the month, making this the 5th wettest July so far. The wettest July on record was in 1996 with nearly a foot of rain.
According to the National Weather Service, Oklahoma City has already received more rain this year than the annual total in 2022.
The precipitation outlook for the next 8-14 days indicates slightly below average rain chances for areas mainly south of I-40—near normal chances for the rest of the state.
Hundreds of dead birds riddled streets in Oklahoma City from weekend hail storms.
Dozens of Purple Martin birds fell from trees and landed in an Oklahoma City shopping center parking lot on Monday.
WildCare Oklahoma posted on Facebook that more than 100 birds were admitted on Monday. Officials say most of the adult birds had fractures from the storms.
However, WildCare received some birds that had very severe injuries and had to euthanize the animals.
A fundraiser for weeks’ worth of food for the birds was posted to the organization's Facebook page, which now totals nearly $2,000.
Gov. Kevin Stitt announces of new criminal justice task force
Stitt signed an executive order creating the Modernizing Operations through Data and Evidence-based Restoration Now, or MODERN Justice Task Force on Tuesday.
The task force will include representatives from all three branches of the state government as well as a representative from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and a victim advocate.
The Justice Action Network, a nationwide bipartisan criminal justice reform organization, praised Gov. Stitt’s executive order in a press release, saying this task force will continue the work of the RESTORE Task Force from 2019.
The task force will provide recommendations on how to reduce crime and recidivism while enhancing public safety to the state Legislature in 2024.
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