5 things to know about Oklahoma legislation for new parameters around the initiative petition process

Senate Bill 1027 is headed to the governor’s desk after passing off the Senate floor with some new House amendments. The bill has been highly debated all session long, with protestors gathering at the Capitol for weeks. 

What changes does SB1027 make to the initiative petition process?

SB1027 makes multiple changes: 

1. Requires the gist statement of any initiative petition or referendum petition to be explained in simple terms.
2. Requires the gist statement to indicate if the proposed measure would have a fiscal impact on the state and the potential source of funding.
3. A notice that the petition is a public record and subject to the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act must be printed under the gist statement. 
4. The Secretary of State is authorized to confirm that gist statements comply with these requirements and can remove any gist statement found in violation. 
5. Requires the signature gatherer to be a registered Oklahoma voter.
6. Requires the signature gatherer to disclose if they are being compensated to circulate the petition and by whom.
7. Any person being compensated to circulate the petition must disclose that information to the Secretary of State and cannot receive compensation from an entity outside of Oklahoma or be compensated based on the number of signatures.
8. Requires any person signing an initiative petition to include the country of residence associated with their voter registration card.
9. Establishes that no more than 10% of the total number of signatures required for an initiative or referendum petition be from legal electors of a county with a population of 400,000 or more and that no more than 4% be from legal electors of a county with a population less than 400,000.

What is an initiative petition?

Oklahoma citizens can use the initiative and referendum to write or change laws in the state. The initiative and referendum are two instruments of direct democracy. Through the grassroots efforts, voters can write statutes and constitutional amendments that appear on the ballot when enough signatures have been collected.

Why does the bill’s Senate author say this legislation is necessary? 

Many republicans have shown support for this bill, saying the majority of signatures on recent initiative petitions have come from only Oklahoma and Tulsa counties, saying rural voices aren’t being heard.

Sen. David Bullard (R-Durant), the author of the bill, says he has spoken to people in small towns across the state who have never seen a petitioner gathering signatures in their areas.

“Why do you want out-of-state money? Why do you want these massive liberal organizations coming in here, unless you want chaos,” said Bullard. “It is very much in line with our constitution and the Oklahoma standard.”

He says this does not diminish democracy, as many democrats argued, instead saying this just forces petitioners to get opinions from across the state.

“I'm putting guardrails to protect people,” said Sen. Bullard. “We're just asking that you go to 18-20 different counties to gather those signatures and get various opinions. Nothing in this bill takes away that ability to move an initiative petition, not one single thing in the bill takes away your ability to do so.”

Why were Senate Democrats against SB1027?

Almost all senate democrats questioned and debated SB1027 on the floor, in a last-ditch effort to strike down the bill before it heads to the governor. Most had the same concern with the bill: saying it diminishes the voice of the people.

“I rise today to urge a no vote on Senate Bill 1027 because this threatens something fundamental to our freedom as Oklahomans to decide on what kind of state we want to live in. They're not rewriting this process to improve it, they're rewriting the rules so they can get what they want instead of what the people want,” said Sen. Carri Hicks, (D) OKC. “The current process works and it has delivered results that voters of both parties want.” 

“We are not doing the work of the people and quite frankly we should not even be here if we're not gonna listen to what people want and what they want us to do,” said Sen. Regina Goodwin, (D) Tulsa. “While we are in these seats, the least we could do is listen to the people.” 

“It gives too much control to the executive branch, it gives the Secretary of State unprecedented power to reject petitions gist which are now reviewed by the AG and sometimes the Supreme Court,” said Sen. Mark Mann, (D) OKC. “This will make it impossible, almost impossible, to have initiative petitions that lead to term limits that lead to Medicaid expansion. Those will be a thing of the past.”

“It blocks votes and voters from addressing problems that those of us in this building won't, because let's be honest that's what many initiative petitions are about,” said Sen. Mann.

“This bill is about taking away the freedom of Oklahomans to make the changes they think are important in their community,” said Sen. Julia Kirt, (D) Senate Minority Leader. “This is gonna limit the number of rural voters that can sign a petition and it's gonna limit suburban voters. This is gonna limit the ways we can get on the ballot with issues that matter to us.”

All seven “no” votes came from senate democrats.

What is next for SB1027? 

The legislation passed with a vote of 37-9, a direct party line vote. The legislation now heads to the governor’s desk with an emergency clause, meaning the bill would take effect as soon as it’s signed into law.

The governor has five days to either sign or veto the bill, if he does not take any action, it would automatically go into effect.

Additional data

The Oklahoma Policy Institute gave a county-by-county look at the impact SB1027: https://okpolicy.org/sb-1027-would-exclude-millions-of-registered-voters-from-signing-initiative-petitions/