On March 3, the Oklahoma Senate passed SJR 37, which would make it more difficult for initiatives to get on the ballot. The bill adds a U.S. House district distribution requirement. Current law requires an initiative that changes an ordinary law to get the signatures of 8% of the last gubernatorial vote. The bill would provide that the petition would need 8% in each of the five districts. This is a proposed Constitutional change, and if it passes the House as well, would go on the ballot in November 2012. The vote in the Senate was 28-15. Thanks to Richard Prawdzienski for this news.
In the meantime, the bill to permit one year to gather initiative signatures, HB 1718, has not made any headway. Current law requires that all the signatures on an initiative be gathered in 90 days. Last year the legislature passed a bill expanding the petitioning period to one year, but the Governor vetoed it.
“On March 3, the Oklahoma Senate passed SJR 37, which would make it more difficult for initiatives to get on the ballot.”
Oklahoma is already one of the most difficult states to put an initiative on the ballot (out of the states that have a citizens initiative process). This is outrageous.
How about a distribution requirement for bill introduced in the legislature?
Also, there is no such thing in any state as a distribution requirement for a candidate to win an election or a primary. In a statewide election, the candidate with the most votes wins, regardless of how his or her votes were distributed.
And, if a ballot measure gets more “yes” votes than “no” votes, no one cares which parts of the state the votes came from.
Obviously –ALWAYS an UNEQUAL number of Electors-Voters in ALL subparts of a State.
See Moore v. Ogilvie 1969 — one of the few SCOTUS equal cases.
For some party hack MORON reason Moore has NOT YET been used to apply for EQUAL ballot access — a mere 42 years and counting.