On the evening of June 5, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry vetoed HB 2246, which would have expanded the petitioning period for initiatives from 90 days to one year. Governor Henry said he approved of most parts of the bill, but he vetoed it because of section III of the bill, which made it a crime for opponents of an initiative to interfere with the petitioning process. UPDATE: see this article in the Tulsa World of June 8 about the veto.
Another bill is pending in the current two-year session of the legislature that also contains the expansion of the initiative petitioning period from 90 days to one year, but because the legislature has adjourned, it cannot possibly pass until 2010.
The introduced version of HB2246 modifies the referendum and initiative petition processes, with the following major provisions:
· expanding the time an initiative petition my circulate from 90 days to one year;
· requiring warning language on each signature sheet, in addition to the cover page of each pamphlet, adding that it is a felony to interfere with the lawful circulation of petitions to the warning;
· specifying that only Oklahoma registered voters or those registered with the Ethics Commission, as provided, may circulate petitions for signature;
· requiring affidavit from those registering with the Ethics Commission to circulate petitions, affidavit to include disclosure of payor information as applicable;
· outlining that the rights of citizens to engage in petition circulation will be protected and not infringed, listing prohibited behaviors and punishments;
· allowing people to withdraw their signature from a petition by filing a request with the Secretary of State;
· requiring approval of petition pamphlet by the Secretary of State’s office before an initiative petition may be circulated;
· setting deadline for signatures to be submitted, at 4 months prior to the election where the question will be decided;
· setting deadline for signatures to be determined insufficient as the 2nd Tuesday in September of the year the signatures are filed;
· changing determination of Supreme Court to rule on sufficiency of signatures rather than statutorily required format to collect signatures;
· requiring a gist statement for an initiative petition of less than 100 words, to be included with the ballot title; and
· modifying appeal process of petition pamphlet, language, proposed ballot title, or gist statement
Since circulating a petition is fraught with potential felonies, it is probably best that it was vetoed.