On May 5, the Oklahoma legislature passed SJR 13. It lowers the number of signatures for initiatives, in years immediately after presidential elections. The old law says a statutory initiative needs signatures of 8% of the last vote cast. SJR 13 changes this to 8% of the last gubernatorial vote. Because so many more voters vote in presidential years than in midterm years, this has the effect of lowering the number of signatures by 30%, for initiatives meant for the midterm election. It has no effect on initiatives that try to get on the ballot in presidential years.

SJR 13 changes the Constitution, so it won’t go into effect unless the voters approve it in 2010. Thanks to Richard Prawdzienski for this news.

On May 4, Washington’s Governor Christine Gregoire signed HB 1517. It permits ex-felons who still owe fines or restitution payments to register to vote. However, if they fall behind on their payments, they can lose their status as registered voters. Under the old law, ex-felons making monthly payments to pay off fines or restitution to victims had to wait until they had finished their payment, before registering to vote.

The Tulsa Beacon, April 30 issue, has this editorial, advocating that either political parties should pay for their own presidential primaries, or that the Oklahoma presidential primaries should be abolished and replaced with caucuses. The editorial notes that it costs the taxpayers $300,000 per presidential election year for the state to hold presidential primaries. The Tulsa Beacon is a print weekly.