Oklahoma's Own In Focus: How Oklahoma Ensures Election Integrity Amid Voter Skepticism

Some Oklahoma voters say they are skeptical about the integrity of the election process.

"Hearing that, you know, all this stuff is going on in places, like ballot boxes being set on fire, I wanted to make sure I did it in person," said voter Cynthia Buckingham.

James Alexander, another voter, said "A little chance for some kind of fraud always exists, but I didn't feel like I saw anything here that would be fraudulent."

A Monmouth University poll from July said 32% of those who responded believed the 2020 election was decided because of voter fraud.

Election officials in Oklahoma say there is little to worry about here because the ballots are paper and the machines are not connected to the internet.

It's one of a few systems in place to keep our election integrity strong.

Election officials here say there have been no reports of any fraud or any ballots being tampered with. They feel confident heading into Election Day that every Oklahoma vote will be counted fairly.

"We're all under the authority of the state election board, which holds us accountable, we all have the same training, we all go by the same rules," said Gwen Freeman, Tulsa County Election Board Secretary.

Election officials in Oklahoma say the state has some of the strictest rules in the country and that each county must follow them.

"The legislature over many decades has put in place laws in the state of Oklahoma that help make sure integrity is ensured in our elections and that we have secure elections," said Paul Ziriaz, State Election Board Secretary.

The state election board says those measures include requiring voters to have an ID and for absentee ballot affidavits to be notarized.

Oklahoma still uses paper ballots, and Freeman says that comes in handy during audits and recounts.

"We remove those paper ballots, and we count them by hand to make sure that those paper ballots--the number of paper ballots and the vote on those paper ballots--matches exactly what the scanner has scanned," Freeman said.

As for those scanners, they cannot connect to the internet and the tallies cannot be collected until they are returned to the election board. Ballots are kept for two years after every federal election.

State law also requires bipartisan oversight, which means you will see at least one Democrat and one Republican at every precinct on election day, and in other situations like audits and when absentee ballots are processed.

Freeman wants voters to know she takes these laws seriously.

"Be careful what you believe, be careful what you read, be careful what misinformation and outright lies that can be spread online through people who wish us no good," Freeman said.

The state says safety is a top priority, and violations of the law about electioneering could land the offender with a fine, and even jail time.

In September, election workers recounted more than 56,000 paper ballots in the mayoral race. Freeman says none of the candidates gained a vote in that recount.