On Monday, August 24, a Tulsa County District Court will hear Eagleton v City of Tulsa, cj2009-5920. The issue is whether an initiative petition is valid. The initiative would ask the voters if they wish to convert Tulsa city elections from partisan elections, to non-partisan elections.

The challenge to the validity of the petition consists of two issues: (1) whether the petition contained a clause warning voters against signing false signatures; (2) whether the petition needs 3,427 valid signatures, or 19,336 valid signatures. The petition has 6,675 valid signatures. The uncertainty over the required number depends on whether the “last preceding general election” is the April 2006 election, or the April 2008 election. The April 2008 election had a very low turnout. It was for city council districts in part of the city, plus it had citywide ballot questions. The challenger says the April 2008 election shouldn’t count, and the city should look back to the April 2006 election, when citywide offices (not just district offices) were on the ballot.