There are two bills pending in the Oklahoma legislature to ease ballot access for independent presidential candidates. The more far-reaching bill cuts the number of signatures to 5,000, and proposes a filing fee alternative of $5,000. That bill is by legislative leaders Senator David Holt (SB 351) and Representative Jon Echols (HB 1563).
Also, there is the proposal of the State Board of Elections, which lowers the number of signatures for an independent presidential candidate from 3% of the last presidential vote, to 3% of the last gubernatorial vote. If that were enacted, the number of signatures for 2016 would have been 24,745 instead of 40,047. That bill, SB 145, is authored by Senator Eddie Fields. It also has a filing fee alternative to the petition, but it is ambiguous: $2,500 for each candidate for presidential elector. The bill, and existing law, does not require an independent presidential candidate to run a full slate of presidential elector candidates. But if a full slate were required, the full fee would be $17,500, because Oklahoma has 7 electoral votes. Even a fee that high would probably be cheaper than gathering 24,745 valid signatures.
On February 14, Representative Echols became a co-sponsor of SB 145, and on February 8, Senator Holt because a co-sponsor, which suggests that this is the bill most likely to move. The bill retains the July 15 petition deadline, but it seems that if a candidate will be permitted to get on the ballot with a fee, there is no reason for the deadline to be that early. Evan McMullin did not declare his candidacy until August 8, 2016.
