OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Getting an issue on a statewide ballot for voters may become more difficult in the future, requiring more support from people all over the state, not just Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
Urban parts of the state fighting with rural parts of the state happens all the time at the State Capitol.
But this bill comes after years of people in rural Oklahoma feeling that the cities of Tulsa and Oklahoma City are pushing their will on to the rest of the state at the ballot box.
Legal medical marijuana, criminal justice reform and a ban on cockfighting are just three of many issues rural voters didn’t like but became law because supporters were able to run up not just the vote but signature collections in the bigger cities.
“It means we can completely ignore everybody else in our state, and just sit in two counties. Unless we decide to do something about it,” said State Sen. David Bullard (R-Durant).
Senate Bill 1027 by Sen. Bullard would change how signatures are collected to put things on future ballots.
“This is needed in our state and it’s actually needed nationwide. Because what happens right now in Oklahoma is they’re only required to go to 2.5% of the counties in this state and therefore they can ignore 97.5%,” Bullard said.
Bullard said there are too many out-of-state interest groups putting things up for a vote that don’t align with Oklahoma values.
He also said sometimes signature collectors don’t even bother going to rural counties to get what they need to put something on the ballot.
Under SB 1027, no more than 10% of the total number of signatures needed to put something up for a vote can come from any one county with more then 400,000 people.
At the same time, no more than 4% of signatures can come from any one county with a population of less than 400,000.
The bill would also require campaigns to collect signatures from a minimum of around 20 counties.
It would also require signature collectors to be paid an hourly wage instead of per signature, among other changes.
“If something were to go on the ballot, regardless of where the initial signatures came from, wouldn’t everyone have a chance to vote on it? Every registered voter,” said State Sen. Michael Brooks (D-Oklahoma City).
Opponents said the bill cancels out voices in the parts of the state where the most people live and they believe it violates the Supreme Court’s “one person, one vote” rule.
There are also accusations that state lawmakers are trying to cut off efforts to place abortion rights up for a vote as well as proposed changes to Oklahoma’s political primary system.
The bill goes to the full Senate for consideration. If this passes out of the State Capitol, voters will have to approve it in a future election.