Another Reform to Oklahoma’s Initiative Petition Laws Passes

From Oklahomans for Responsible Government:

Common-sense bill makes ballot more accessible to citizens

Oklahoma’s very restrictive laws governing ballot initiatives will be opened up under House Bill 2246 which got final approval in the Senate last night and is now going to the governor for his signature. It’s the third major reform to the system which allows citizens to come up with laws and put them up for a vote.

“It’s a fundamental right of Oklahomans to petition their government,” said Brian Downs, Executive Director of Oklahomans for Responsible Government. “But the laws limited that to the point where only well-funded and well-organized groups could mount such an effort.”

There are several provisions to HB 2246, but the main components will:

• lengthen the amount of time to gather signatures from 90-days to one year
• require legal challenges to petition language be handled before signatures are collected
• create a Task Force that will look at other aspects of the initiative and referendum process

HB 2246 is the third measure to deal with the initiative petition process this session. Senate Joint Resolution 13, which already passed both houses, will ask voters to change the law so that the number of signatures needed to put a measure on the ballot is based only on the last election for governor. Senate Bill 800 deals with the legal challenges to ballot initiatives. It got final approval earlier this week and also awaits the governor’s signature.

“Changing the initiative petition process has been a major policy agenda issue for OFRG this session,” said Downs. “We commend the legislators for supporting the initiative petition process and encourage the governor to sign them into law.”