Restrictions to Initiative Petition process passes another hurdle
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Lawmakers in the House voted Wednesday to send the restrictions on Oklahoma's Initiative Petition Process to the Senate.
It's Senate Bill 1027, and it essentially requires that every Oklahoma county must get 11.5% of the voters from the last election for it to count.
It 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.
Those in support said that it would give more votes for rural Oklahomans.
'It is important for the entire state to be involved in this process,' said Rep. Jim Olsen (R-Roland).
Bill would limit initiative petition signatures by county, giving less-populated counties disproportionately larger influence
Several republican lawmakers debated on the House floor and argued that the process before only allowed most votes from metro areas like Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
'That's simply not true,' said Amber England.
England has led several ballot initiatives in Oklahoma and said that they are going to rural areas all the time. She said they have trained hundreds to go out and get signatures from those in rural areas.
'That's how you get people to sign these petitions. They live in that area, so they want the signatures too. It is how we reined in spending under Democrats. It is how we saved our rural hospitals,' said England. 'So both sides have used the initiative process to push people in power when they believed that power had gotten out of hand. I would ask that the governor stand with the side of the people and not special interests and veto this bill.'
The petition process has brought about many new laws that the people chose to put on the ballot: From marijuana legalization, Medicaid expansion, and right-to-work.
'I voted with my conscious,' said Rep. Daniel Pae (R-Lawton).
Rep. Pae was one of the 'No' votes for SB 1027 on Wednesday. He said that he has voted no several times when it comes to modifying the process.
'It's my personal belief that the founders of the state wanted power to be decentralized, given to the people. We have a pretty robust initial petition process as is,' said Rep. Pae.
Another argument given by Republican lawmakers Wednesday was that the petition process is an easy one right now because signatures can mostly come from metro areas.
'So to say it's easy is false. To say that circulators don't go to rural areas is false. This is giving people power,' said Brendan Hoover of the Kirkpatrick Policy Group.
He has also been a part of several petition processes over the years.
Did lawmakers on this bill come and talk to you to ask how it could be fairer or how it works?
'No. I could have certainly come up with many ways to make it fairer. But none of those would have been taken up today because they don't care about making the process fairer. They care about rigging the system, rigging the process so that they're taking power away from voters,' said England.
'No,' said Hoover.
The bill had amendments made, and now it heads to the Senate for their possible approval or rejection. The bill could end up on the governor's desk, where he will have the final word.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
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