Thousands Of Oklahomans Cast Ballots For General Election Early
Wednesday was the first day of early voting in Oklahoma.
The State Election Board reported that by 6:30 Wednesday evening nearly 77,000 people statewide cast their ballots for the general election, and nearly 85,000 mail absentee ballots were returned to their county election board.
Canadian County Election Board secretary Allen Arnold said the high turnout doesn’t surprise him.
“A general election for a presidential year is always going to bring out people, but it seems that it's especially busy this year,” Arnold said.
Oklahoma has four early voting days this year. Arnold said early voting is gaining popularity across the country.
“A lot of times, they're just excited. They're ready to vote for the person they want to vote for. And also, a lot of people are trying to avoid the long lines that are inevitable on election day at their precinct,” Arnold said.
A limited number of polling locations are open through Saturday for early voting.
You can find more information on the OK Voter Portal or by calling your county election office.
Oklahoma's State Superintendent Demands $475 Million Reimbursement from VP Kamala Harris
State Superintendent Ryan Walters is demanding Vice President Kamala Harris reimburse Oklahoma for the cost of educating undocumented children to the tune of nearly half a billion dollars.
In August, Walters said at an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting the state department would be working with districts to review the financial impact for the education of undocumented children. Now, in a letter to Harris, he says that estimated cost is $475 million, and expects to be reimbursed.
The accuracy of that number is in question, and the administration is under no obligation to comply with this demand. Walters says the state department can’t effectively budget or allocate resources without knowing the cost of illegal immigration on schools.
The letter comes the same day a report from Oklahoma’s Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency was released that takes the state department of education to task for poor communication with districts and administrative mishaps related to allocating federal funds to Oklahoma Schools.
Walters calls the report a waste of time for the people of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma's New Age-Verification Law Blocks Pornhub Statewide
A new state law that takes effect Friday is aiming to keep youth from accessing pornography on the internet. But it also means one of the most popular websites in the world will no longer be readily accessible in Oklahoma.
Senate Bill 1959 requires sites that carry adult content to verify a user’s age.
The law also requires sites to let internet users in Oklahoma request that material be blocked.
Sen. Jerry Alvord was one of the sponsors of the bill.
"This allows parents to put age verification blockings on their devices so that they can protect their children from picking up this kind of thing, either intentionally or unintentionally," said Alvord.
Alvord said sites would use a third-party age verifier, which would keep X-rated vendors from stealing data.
House sponsor Toni Hasenbeck compared the bill to a law in Texas that requires explicit sites to verify the ages of all users.
In response to such laws, adult website giant Pornhub has blocked content altogether. In a prepared statement, Pornhub’s parent site claimed such laws just make people move to “darker corners of the internet” that don’t follow the rules.
Cherokee Nation Partners with Amazon to Launch Tuition-Free Film Institute
The Cherokee Nation is partnering with online retail giant Amazon to provide opportunities for blossoming filmmakers.
The multi-million dollar investment will waive the tuition for the Cherokee Film Institute's inaugural students to reduce economic barriers across the Northeast Oklahoma reservation.
The partnership aims to teach Native and non-Native individuals skills in uplifting Indigenous voices through filmmaking, camera work and story-telling. At the end of the courses, students will be workforce ready.
Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. says he looks forward to seeing Cherokee citizens from every corner of the reservation take hold of the film industry.
“I’m excited at the idea that young Cherokees in particular, and particularly those that have just sort of dreamed of being in this industry, but maybe never thought there was a path for them to be able to get this training with no cost, and get on their way to a career that they may have dreamed of," Hoskin said.
The institute's first courses begin in January.
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