Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Wednesday is the last day for Savanna voters to apply for mailed absentee ballots for the July 14 special election. The measure on next week’s ballot would raise the city sales tax in Savanna from 3 percent to 5 percent to fund capital improvements to the town’s sanitary sewer system, for the acquisition of additional land if needed for the improvements, and for maintenance, including maintenance of the existing sewer system.

Read the story from McAlester News-Capital

Citizen State Coordinators

Fri, Jun 26 by Anonymous

Contact the Citizen State Coordinator in your state to get involved protecting and expanding the initiative and referendum process. If you don’t see a Coordinator listed for your state, click here to apply.

 

National Citizen Coordinator - Greg Schmid

Click here to email Greg.

 

Arizona - Eric Ehst

Click here to email Eric

 

California - Bruce Cohen

Click here to email Bruce

 

Polls open today in a special election to decide if licensed businesses will be able to sell liquor by the drink. Polls will be open from 7 AM to 7 PM.

Read the story from the Southwest Arkansas Times-Record

Washington County voters by a 2-to-1 margin on Tuesday approved a proposal to construct a $14.5 million new jail that will replace an outdated facility that had been cited by the state for overcrowding. Residents approved the jail proposal, funded by a ½-cent sales tax, on a vote of 3,939 to 1,854 ”” a 68 percent approval rating. County voters also approved by an 84 percent margin a measure that will eliminate personal property tax.

Ballot initiative rights activists continue to criticize Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry for his veto of a popular bi-partisan reform bill over the weekend. HB 2246 would have opened up Oklahoma’s toughest-in-the-nation initiative process and protected voters and signature gatherers from harassment.

Oklahoma Governor Says No

Sat, Jun 6 2009 by Staff

Today Oklahoma Governor Henry vetoed HB 2246, a bill that would have extended the period to collect signatures from 90 days to one year.

Activists are upset with this latest development as Oklahoma currently has the most restrictive ballot initiative and referendum process in the nation. The bill would have gone a long way in improving the states process.

The City Council has reserved the trust fund in the past to meet other city needs, Douglas said this week at a City Council workshop. The Hospital Trust Fund was set aside by a vote of the people for land purchase and acquisition, said Wayne Page, city councilman.

Read the story from The Edmond Star

On Oklahom group the supports ballot intiative rights is calling on that state’s governor to sign a bill aimed at opening up the initiative process.

Read the story from the Tulsa Beacon

Oklahoma Senate Bill 800 was signed into law by Gov. Brad Henry yesterday. The bill will move challenges to the ballot wording (“gist statement”) to before signatures are collected rather than after. This will prevent ballot initiative petitions from being thrown out due to minor technicalities after the hard work of gathering signatures has been done.

In an op-ed in today’s Daily Oklahoman—the state’s largest newspaper—Oklahomans for Responsible Government Executive Director Brian Downs calls on Governor Brad Henry to sign two bills aimed at opening up the state’s initiative process.

The Oklahoma Legislature passed a bill yesterday that will extend the period for gathering signatures on a petition from 90 days to one year. The bill must now be signed by the Governor to become law. This is the third ballot initiative process reform bill passed in Oklahoma this year.

Read the story from Citizens In Charge Foundation

Oklahomans for Initiative Rights, a group that supports the ballot initiative process in Oklahoma, announced that state House Bill 2246 received final passage from the legislature today. This is the third ballot initiative process reform bill that the legislature has passed this year.

Oklahoma Senate Bill 800 has passed both chambers of the state legislature and now awaits signature from the Governor. The bill will move challenges to the ballot wording (“gist statement”) to before signatures are collected rather than after. This will prevent ballot initiative petitions from being thrown out due to minor technicalities after the hard work of gathering signatures has been done.

Oklahomans are celebrating the passage of a major reform to the state’s stringent ballot initiative process.  Senate Joint Resolution 13 (SJR-13) passed the legislature and will now be on the 2010 ballot for the voters of Oklahoma.

An Oklahoma group is towing an 18-foot replica of the state around Oklahoma to promote legislation expanding the ballot initiative process. The group has said the Oklahoma has the most restrictive ballot initiative process in the country, and the pending legislation would greatly expand initiative rights.

Read the story from the Guymon Daily Herald