Oklahoma lawmakers will consider several bills that could change voting procedures during the 2025 legislative session.
Some would affect voters heading to the polls, like changing the identification accepted. Others seek to alter the responsibilities of the government and political parties.
Here are four voting and democracy topics worth watching in proposed legislation this year.
Early and absentee voting reform
During last November’s general election, many Oklahoma voters experienced long lines for early voting. Also known as in-person absentee voting, early voting allows certain locations in each county to open a few days before election day. Early voting in Oklahoma is available on Thursday and Friday before any election. There are also opportunities for early voting on the Wednesday and Saturday before certain elections, such as the general election.
However, two Senate bills proposed this session seek to lengthen the early voting period. Senate Bill 129, filed by Sen. Julia Kirt, D-OKC, would make early voting available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for 14 days immediately preceding any election. Though less of a jump, Senate Bill 273 — filed by Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman — would add Wednesday as an early voting day for all elections. In addition, it would increase Saturday early voting to the preceding three weeks before certain elections rather than just one week.
On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Molly Jenkins, R-Coyle, is proposing that mail-in voting have more restrictions. Currently, registered voters can get an absentee ballot for any reason, but Jenkins’ House Bill 1515 would require those requests to be accompanied by a statement explaining why the voter can’t cast their ballot in person, either during early voting or on election day.
In the 2020 election cycle, President Trump argued that mail-in ballots would allow his opponents to win the election unfairly. However, the claim that voter fraud cost Trump that election has been debunked. The Oklahoma State Election Board has repeatedly stated that Oklahoma’s voting process is safe and secure.
Photo identification of voters
The November general election also resulted in the passage of State Question 834, which clarified that only United States citizens could vote in Oklahoma’s elections by amending the state constitution (prior to the election, it was already a felony for non-citizens to attempt to vote in Oklahoma). Some officials in Oklahoma want to require the use of a photo ID to vote to prevent non-citizens from voting. Last year’s House Bill 3717 attempted to create a requirement, but it died in the Senate.
This year, two bills have been filed to do the same thing. Currently, Oklahomans may use their Voter ID card as proof of identification when voting, which doesn’t include a photo. However, both Senate Bill 316 (filed by Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain) and House Bill 1005 (filed by Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland) would require Oklahoma’s voter ID cards to include photos. Both drafts specify that the updated cards will be free for voters.
A separate bill filed by Olsen, House Bill 1007, aims to exclude student IDs from being used as proof of identity when registering to vote. The current requirements for voter identification have allowed the use of IDs from public colleges and universities when registering.
Structural change in election conduct
Other bills seek to change how government officials conduct elections. Senate Bill 197, filed by Sen. Dana Prieto, R-Tulsa, would allow the legislature to set the election date for state questions. Currently, that power is held exclusively by the governor. The bill specifies that if the legislature and the governor set conflicting dates, the election for that question will be the following November.
Gov. Kevin Stitt came under fire last fall after he chose to hold the election for State Question 832 — which would raise the minimum wage to $15/hour — in June 2026. The choice marks the longest period in the last decade between the submission of a ballot initiative’s signatures and its election: two years.
Senate Joint Resolution 5, filed by Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, aims to raise the bar for the passage of state questions. State questions only require a simple majority to pass once handed to voters. If approved, the resolution would increase that to 60%.
State legislators also filed bills related to events of the 2024 presidential election cycle. House Bill 1010, filed by Rep. Jenkins, has been dubbed the Presidential Preference Primary Modernization Act. It seeks to dissuade state party delegates from selecting a presidential candidate other than the winner of the state’s primary election — which notably occurred when Democratic delegates from Oklahoma and across the country voted to confirm former Vice President Kamala Harris as their nominee after Joe Biden, who won the primary, dropped out of the race.
If passed, Jenkins’ bill would require the Secretary of the State Election Board to calculate the cost of including the primary-winning candidate on the ballot and then charge that amount to the state party that did not nominate said candidate. The bill says such costs could include (but are not limited to) “administrative expenses, ballot printing, and election staffing.” Failure to pay the charges within 90 days would result in the party’s exclusion from Oklahoma's next presidential preferential primary.
Changing the systems of government
Other bills filed before the session bring proposed changes to the structure of Oklahoma’s government itself.
Senate Bill 990, filed by Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, would allow more paths for statewide elected officials to be removed from their positions. The Oklahoma State Constitution currently holds that elected officials can be impeached for “willful neglect of duty, corruption in office, habitual drunkenness, incompetency, or any offense involving moral turpitude committed while in office.”
Coleman’s bill, however, would create a recall process by which officials could be removed for reasons outside those listed in the Constitution. If the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and Speaker of the House both thought it appropriate, the bill would allow them to write a joint resolution for the removal of an official. If approved by the legislature, the resolution would go to the people for a vote.
More drastically, Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, has filed House Bill 2451, calling for a constitutional convention to amend the state’s governing document. If passed, it would present a vote to the people to decide whether a convention should be held.
The legislative session starts on Feb. 3.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
