Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, alongside state election officers, proudly introduced a serious victory in sustaining the state’s standing as a nationwide chief in election integrity.
As a part of an ongoing effort to make sure that solely eligible voters take part in Oklahoma elections, officers confirmed the removing of over 450,000 ineligible names from voter rolls since January 2021.
The sweeping cleanup contains purging deceased voters, duplicate registrations, and convicted felons.
“Voting is our most sacred obligation as People— and each Oklahoman desires to know their vote is securely forged and correctly counted,” stated Governor Stitt in an announcement.
“The State Election Board and the Secretary of State’s workplace proceed to go above and past to make sure solely eligible Oklahomans can vote in our elections. Their progress reassures me we’ll proceed to steer the nation in election integrity efforts.”
Among the many 453,000 voter registrations eliminated, Oklahoma officers confirmed the purge included 97,065 deceased voters, 14,993 duplicate registrations, 143,682 people who moved out-of-state, 5,607 felons, and practically 195,000 inactive voters who failed the state’s handle verification course of.
In accordance with Secretary of State Josh Cockroft, the state has fortified its electoral system via shut collaboration with Governor Stitt’s workplace and the Legislature, implementing safe voting insurance policies that shield the system from rising applied sciences, together with synthetic intelligence threats.
“We’ve aggressively pursued insurance policies to make sure voting is safe and correct, and we’re innovating to guard our elections from rising expertise like AI. In Oklahoma, each eligible citizen could have their vote counted and their voice heard,” Cockroft stated.
In accordance with the press launch:
In November 2023, Governor Stitt fashioned the Marketing campaign Finance and Election Threats Process Power to scrupulously assess the electoral course of, scrutinize overseas funding in campaigns, and guarantee Oklahoma elections are the most secure within the nation.
The duty drive made recommendations, a few of which have been adopted into regulation and process, akin to banning ranked selection voting and mandating post-election audits. Citing quite a few profitable audits, the duty drive concluded that Oklahoma’s electoral course of is among the strongest within the nation.
“Oklahoma has an extended custom of doing elections proper,” stated Secretary of the State Election Board Paul Ziriax. “Recounts and post-election audits have constantly confirmed the accuracy of Oklahoma’s voting system, and our legal guidelines and procedures are designed to make sure the integrity and safety of our elections.”
Oklahoma Election Quick Info:
- Oklahoma continues the custom of utilizing hand-marked paper ballots that are counted by an e-scan tabulator.
- The e-scan vote tabulators would not have the potential to hook up with the web.
- Election officers work intently with Oklahoma Cyber Command to guard our election system from would-be attackers.
- Throughout a recount or post-election audit, election outcomes are confirmed by hand-counting paper ballots.
- The State and County Election Boards are bipartisan.
- In 2020, Governor Stitt signed SB 1779 to outlaw the observe of “poll harvesting” and create new legal penalties for violators.
- Oklahoma voter ID legal guidelines require proof of id for each voter, no matter whether or not you’re voting early, absentee, or in-person.
- Solely United States residents who’re residents of Oklahoma could register to vote and state regulation explicitly prohibits noncitizens from accessing voter registration providers.
- Ballot watchers are commissioned by a candidate or the chair of a acknowledged political social gathering to look at voting units earlier than and after the polls shut.
- Polling locations throughout Oklahoma are staffed by volunteers and voters identical to you. Study extra about changing into a ballot employee HERE.
The deadline to register to vote within the November election is October 11, 2024. Oklahomans can register to vote HERE and test their voter registration standing HERE.
Governor Stitt reiterated the significance of safeguarding elections in a latest put up on X (previously Twitter), emphasizing the state’s dedication to hand-marked paper ballots and tabulation via e-scan machines which might be completely disconnected from the web.
“Oklahoma continues the custom of utilizing hand-marked paper ballots. The ballots are counted by an e-scan tabulator. These tabulators do NOT have the potential to hook up with the web,” Stitt posted.
“Election officers work intently with Oklahoma Cyber Command to guard our election system from would-be attackers. Throughout a recount or election audit, election outcomes are confirmed by hand-counting the paper ballots.”
The governor additionally took purpose on the controversial observe of poll harvesting, reminding Oklahomans that he signed SB 1779 in 2020 to outlaw the observe and impose legal penalties on violators.
He emphasised that the state’s strict voter ID legal guidelines—requiring proof of id for each voter, whether or not voting early, absentee, or in particular person—make sure that solely U.S. residents residing in Oklahoma can take part in elections.
“All of us want an ID to fly, purchase alcohol, money a test, and many others. There’s no cause a state shouldn’t have strict voter ID legal guidelines. It’s simply widespread sense,” Stitt stated.
Try the complete replace from my workplace right here:https://t.co/RTax5IISyp
— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) September 18, 2024
