By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — Legislation imposing restrictions on gathering signatures for initiative petitions moved one step closer to becoming law after House lawmakers approved a revised version Wednesday.
Proponents of the bill called it “voter empowerment” and “common sense legislation,” while critics said it would limit voices of rural and urban Oklahomans and make it nearly impossible to get a state question on the ballot.
Senate Bill 1027, authored by House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, would limit the number of signatures that can be collected in each county to 11.5% of votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election for a statutory change and 20.8% for a constitutional change. He said this is meant to include rural voters in all parts of the initiative petition process who are usually left out.
“The metros are getting double the say the rest of the state under the current process,” he said.
The measure would give the secretary of state, who is appointed by the governor, the power to remove the gist, or summary of the ballot measure. The gist is currently reviewed by the Oklahoma attorney general and can be checked by the state Supreme Court.
Oklahomans who sign a petition would be able to rescind their signatures and file challenges to the gist prior to signature collection, and anyone circulating a petition would need to be a registered Oklahoma voter, disclose any payment and the source of it, and cannot take money from entities outside the state.
Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, said the bill would not limit rural participation.
“To say that it silences rural areas is a fantasy, a fabrication, a falsehood and a fallacy,” he said. “Additionally, it’s a delusion, a deception and the source distortion. This bill facilitates the participation of everybody in Oklahoma, of every area in Oklahoma, including the metros, and including, as well, the rural areas.”
Six Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the measure, including Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton. The bill advanced from the House with a vote of 69 to 23.
Many of Pae’s constituents, as well as people from across the state, reached out to him about itl, Pae said. None of his constituents told him they had problems with a previous vote he cast against a similar measure last session, he said.
“Fundamentally, I think this state was founded on populist values and our founders wanted power to be decentralized to localities and communities across the state of Oklahoma,” he said. “And we have this initiative petition process for a reason. Is it perfect? No, nothing is perfect in this world. But I think we should respect the spirit of this process and respect the will of our founders. Having any attempts to try to modify it in whatever way, I’ve always been in opposition.”
Oklahoma City Democrats Rep. Andy Fugate and Mickey Dollens both attempted to amend Hilbert’s legislation. Fugate’s amendment would have sent the issue to the ballot for voters to decide on. Dollens’ amendment would have extended the period for collecting signatures from 90 to 180 days.
Both amendments were tabled.
This action reveals the true intent of the legislation, Dollens said. He said extending the time signatures are allowed to be gathered would have allowed petitions to be circulated to all corners of the state and more rural areas.
“It just proves that this has nothing to do about getting more rural votes or signatures. This is simply about silencing the people’s constitutional right to petition their government,” he said. “And it should be noted that signatures make no effect on the outcome of a state question on the ballot. All that does is simply gain and question access to the ballot, and then everyone has the opportunity to vote for it in a general election, just like we do statewide elected officials.”
Rep. Suzanne Schreiber, D-Tulsa, said the bill limits direct democracy. She said the point of the bill is to make it “tough, if not impossible” for initiative petitions to be put on the ballot.
Another Oklahoma City Democrat, Rep. Forrest Bennett, said the current initiative petition process has produced life-saving measures like Medicaid expansion. Medical marijuana was also legalized through a state question in 2018 and raising the minimum wage is set to be on the ballot in 2026.
“I am no stranger to bills not going my way in this room,” he said. “And it has been suggested that perhaps this is being run because some of my colleagues and some folks with power in Oklahoma are upset with what people do with their direct democracy now.”
Rep. Jay Steagall, R-Yukon, said it is not the job of representatives to “exercise the will of the people,” but to protect their rights.
“We do not live in a democracy. We don’t,” he said. “It was asserted here yesterday that we live in the greatest democracy in the history of the world. We do not. We live in a republic. As a matter of fact, our entire system is designed around the premise of a representative republic.”
Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, pointed to Colorado, a “blue” state, as having a similar policy.
Colorado requires the total number of signatures collected to be 5% of those cast for secretary of state, but requires petitions seeking to amend the state constitution be signed by 2% of the total registered voters in each of the state senate districts.
Because House lawmakers amended the measure in committee, it heads back to the Senate for consideration.
