Legislative Session Preview
Oklahoma lawmakers will convene in early February for the start of the legislative session - and one issue they’re sure to address will be elections.
Lawmakers will weigh a handful of election subjects including technology use, requiring an ID at the polls and more.
One bill by Republican Senator Nathan Dahm would add restrictions to absentee voting by requiring each special ballot to contain a watermark. SB1374 would also require county elections board officials to be the verifiers of the absentee ballots containing the watermark before they can be counted.
SB 1515 by Republican Senator George Burns would allow the use of GPS by county election board secretaries to ensure a voter is assigned to the right precinct. Burns also has a bill that is pushing for picture voter IDs at the polls.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Julia Kirt is sponsoring a bill for more nonpartisan local elections. SB1544 would require all county elections to be nonpartisan beginning in 2025.
Bill Filed To Require Governor To Notify Chain Of Command When Leaving The State
After not knowing he was acting governor in the aftermath of a devastating storm that hit Tulsa last summer, Oklahoma’s Senate President Pro Tem has filed a bill that would require the governor to notify his chain of command when they leave the state.
President Pro Tem Greg Treat has filed Senate Bill 1860, which would require the governor or acting governor to give at least 24 hours’ notice to the next in line of succession before they leave the state and thus cannot govern.
Treat was thrust into the role of acting governor in June 2023 because Governor Kevin Stitt and Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell were out of state in the days after the storm. Treat claims he was not told he was acting governor, and signed an emergency declaration that allowed the FEMA assessment process to begin within an hour of being notified.
"At least since I’ve been involved in the state government, it’s just been the tradition and the practice to be notified by the governor and the lieutenant governor on departure. We need to double down on that, because that has not been happening this past year," said Pinnell.
The bill comes after Attorney General Gentner Drummond called for better communication in the governor’s line of succession during the storm response.
OPMX has reached out to the governor’s office for comment on the bill.
Eviction Bill
A bill filed for consideration this year could give Oklahomans facing eviction more time before they must appear in court.
Democratic State Senator Julia Kirt’s Senate Bill 1575 would increase the minimum time from the date a summons is issued to the date a person must appear in court for eviction proceedings from ten days to ten business days.
Additionally, the bill would increase the minimum number of days a summons must be served to the defendant from three days to seven days before the hearing.
In a press release, Kirt said giving tenants facing eviction more time to come up with money for rent or find a different place to live could help prevent homelessness. According to data from the Eviction Lab, Oklahoma and Tulsa counties have the 20th and 11th highest eviction rates in the country.
State Launches Initiative On Safe Use, Disposal Of Prescriptions
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services is launching a new initiative to educate the public on how to safely use, store and dispose of opioids and other prescription meds.
Although it might seem like common sense to safely store medications, not share them and properly dispose of them, every year, thousands of children end up in the ER from finding and taking medicines. That’s why the department’s senior director of public relations Bonnie Campo says the SAFER campaign is important.
She says it aims to help educate people 12 years and older on how they can safely manage their medications.
“This should be commonplace, and it's just not. This is education that we can all use right now," said Campo.
The SAFER campaign’s website also includes a compilation of locations for drug disposal sites and Naloxone vending machines in Oklahoma.
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