On February 22, the Oklahoma Senate Rules Committee amended and passed SB 145. It eases presidential ballot access. It provides that an independent presidential candidate, or the presidential nominee of an unqualified party, can get on the ballot by paying a filing fee of $17,500. Alternatively, the candidate can get on the ballot by submitting a petition of 3% of the last gubernatorial vote, which right now is 24,745 signatures. The deadline would be July 15. If this bill is signed into law, chances are future presidential candidates will use the filing fee method, even though it is very high.
The filing fee for a candidate for the US House is currently $750. Oklahoma has five seats in the US House. The total fees for a party to have candidates in all districts is $3750. A $17,500 fee for a presidential and VP ticket appears to indicate how much political capital is invested in the Federal Executive and how little in the Congress. The U S Senate candidate fee is $1000. So full Federal slate in a year with a U S Senate office on the ballot would be $22,250. For what? Putting a little more ink on the ballots?
It is difficult to see how administering the election of seven presidential Electors should be so much more expensive than the elections of five Congressional candidates. Is the Presidential filing fee a bonus to administrators for not having to process petitions? Who do they want to hire to not count petition signatures?
And now the shell games begin…who proposed that change?
Libertarians may have that kind of cash but we in the GPOK
Green Party of Oklahoma, do not. Tough being the only party
in the top 4 to NOT accept Corporate donations.
We need a critical mass of those Being the Change and building
the alternatives to this Predator Class system that oppresses
many and is pushing us ever faster through the 6th Extinction.
Ballot Access for Presidential and VP should be the same as for
U.S. Senate. And we need Ranked Choice Voting (or whatever the
best voting method is).