Oklahoma HB 1058, which lowers the number of signatures for a new or previously unqualified party from 5% of the last vote cast, to exactly 5,000 signatures, has a hearing in the House Rules Committee on February 16. The Committee will hear many bills, and meets at approximately 10:30 a.m.
Not every bill automatically gets a hearing in Oklahoma, so this is good news for the bill. The Committee won’t actually make a decision on the day of the hearing. Thanks to Angelia O’Dell for this news.
Is that 5000 signatures to qualify the party, or 5000 for ballot access for a statewide candidate? Either way, its far better than West Virginia where we need 1% for both access signatures and gubernatorial vote performance – currently 7061.
Note that our state population is 1,819,777 where Oklahoma’s is exactly double that at 3,687,050 (July 2009 U.S. Census figures). THIS IS EXCELLENT LEGISLATION. Get busy lobbying for it Oklahomans, and best of luck!
Oklahoma now lets any independent on the November ballot with no petition at all, except that this generous law does not pertain to independent presidential candidates. The bill only pertains to political parties. If it passes, it would make sense for Oklahoma to also reform the independent presidential petition requirement.