Oklahoma voters are voting on November 2 on eleven statewide ballot measures.  One of them is State Question 750.  If it passes, it would lower the number of signatures to get an initiative on the ballot (for changing a state law, not the state Constitution)  from 117,013 signatures, to 74,117 signatures.  That represents a 36.7% reduction.  These figures relate to the 2010 ballot; of course no one knows the exact figures for future elections.  The measure would have no effect on the number of signatures for initiatives that qualify in presidential election years.

The legislature put this measure on the ballot in 2009.  Although SQ 750 would not directly alter the petition requirements for new parties or for independent presidential candidates, if it passes, it will help to improve the ballot access laws for minor parties and independent candidates.  The vote by the people will send a message to the Oklahoma legislature.  If SQ 750 passes, that will be a signal that the Oklahoma voters want more choices on their ballot.  If it fails, that will be a signal that they don’t.

The Oklahoma legislature almost passed a bill during 2009 lowering the number of signatures for new parties, but in the end the bill didn’t pass the conference committee.  The number of signatures needed for a new party in 2010 is 73,134 signatures.  If SQ 750 passes, the state would face the absurd situation that the number of signatures for a new party (in midterm years) is virtually the same as the number of signatures needed for an initiative.  The irony is that the U.S. Constitution requires every state to have procedures for minor parties to get on the ballot, but nothing in the U.S. Constitution requires states to have procedures for initiatives.  In all other states that have the initiative, the number of signatures for an initiative is far greater than the number of signatures to put a new party or an independent statewide candidate on the ballot.

The ballot wording for SQ 750 is here (scroll down).  Unfortunately the ballot description is very confusing.  SQ 750 changes the basis for determining the number of signatures for an initiative from 8% of the last vote cast, to 8% of the last gubernatorial vote cast.  The reduction (if SQ 750 passes) would apply to initiatives that appear in midterm years, such as 2010.