By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — A measure that would have barred Oklahomans from being registered to vote if they don’t select a party affiliation did not make it to the governor’s desk.
While House Bill 3722 passed off the House floor along party lines, it was never heard in the Senate. The measure would have made selecting a party affiliation or independent designation a requirement when registering to vote. Voters who failed to make a selection would have been ineligible to vote.
Because the bill failed, Oklahomans who do not select any party affiliation will continue to be designated as independents as required by existing state law.
Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader, R-Piedmont, who authored the measure, had argued that she didn’t believe the thousands of voters who failed to choose a partisan affiliation intended to be registered as independents, and the state shouldn’t “assume” intent.
She and the bill’s Senate author, Brian Guthrie, R-Bixby, did not return a request for comment by the time of publication.
House Democrats, who opposed the plan, said over 4,000 Oklahomans have registered to vote without choosing an affiliation and this would have made future applications like these ineligible for registration. The bill would not have impacted those already registered.
Oklahomans are already required to provide their birthdate, address, driver’s license number and partial Social Security number to register to vote.
