The Oklahoma Democratic Party is challenging what it says is a decision by the Oklahoma Election Board to close the party’s primaries.
The Oklahoma Election Board on Wednesday issued a press release saying no party notified the agency by deadline that it wanted to open its primaries.
As a result, all party primary elections will be closed to the over 487,900 registered independent voters in the upcoming elections.
The Oklahoma Democratic Party for a decade had opened its primaries to independents.
It voted in June to continue the practice and notified the Oklahoma Election Board in August by sending the agency its minutes from the meeting, said Lauren Craig, Oklahoma Democratic Party executive director.
“In our mind, we had done all the appropriate steps,” Craig said.
The party said it did not learn of the decision to close its primaries until the press release, the party said.
“Oklahoma Democrats welcome independents in our elections,” said Erin Brewer, the state chair. “We value their voices in selecting our general election candidates. We are working with the State Election Board to correct this error and exploring legal counsel if necessary.”
Craig said it was a “miscommunication.”
“We were shocked to get this news,” Craig said.
Paul Ziriax, Oklahoma Election Board secretary, said state law “is very clear,” and “unambiguous.”
He said that although not required by law, he sent out a reminder on Oct. 30 and a follow up letter on Dec. 3.
He said the notice the Oklahoma Democratic Party sent the agency in August was about changing the party’s symbol on the ballot, not about open primaries.
Ziriax said he has never had a party fail to meet the deadline and was a little surprised by the party’s reaction.
He said it is regrettable if the party intended to notify the agency but failed to do so.
“It is a done deal,” Ziriax said.
Oklahoma is one of about a dozen states that has a modified primary system.
To participate in a party’s primary or primary runoff election, a person must be a registered voter of that party, with an exception.
In every odd-numbered year between Nov. 1 and Nov. 30, recognized political parties can notify the State Election Board that they have opened their primaries to independents.
If a party notifies the agency, the deadline is extended to Dec. 15 for the other recognized parties to respond.
If notice is not provided, primaries remain closed, according to the Oklahoma Election Board.
Oklahoma has three recognized political parties, Democrat, Republican and Libertarian.
Recently, only Democrats have chosen to open their primaries to nonaffiliated voters.
The dispute over access also comes as supporters of open primaries are seeking to gather enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot in the form of State Question 836.
Jan. 26 is the deadline to submit the 172,993 signatures needed to get the constitutional amendment on the ballot, according to the Oklahoma Secretary of State.
State Question 836 proponent Tony Stobbe, a retired U.S. Coast Guard commander, said the dispute underscores the need for reform. He said he is not able to vote in an election that decides anything.
“It’s wrong that hundreds of thousands of taxpayers, including veterans like me, are shut out of the process,” he said.
The announcement from the Oklahoma Election Board “means it’s more important than ever that we give Oklahomans a chance to open our primaries and ensure all registered voters can participate in our elections,” Stobbe said.
As of Nov. 30, Oklahoma had nearly 2.4 million voters.
Of those, nearly 1.28 million were Republicans, 608,661 were Democrats, 487,927 were independents and 23,277 were Libertarians.
