# Elections in Oklahoma

Elections in Oklahoma :
Federal government
Presidential elections
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Presidential primaries
Democratic
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Senate elections
1907
1909
1913
1914
1918
1920
1924
1926
1930
1932
1936
1938
1942
1944
1948
1950
1954
1956
1960
1962
1964 sp
1966
1968
1972
1974
1978
1980
1984
1986
1990
1992
1994 sp
1996
1998
2002
2004
2008
2010
2014
2014 sp
2016
2020
2022
2022 sp
2026
2028
House of Representatives elections
1907
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1919
5th sp
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1937
5th sp
1938
1940
1941
7th sp
1942
1944
2nd sp
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1st sp
6th sp
1996
1998
2000
2002
1st sp
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
State government
State elections
1907
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Gubernatorial elections
1907
1910
1914
1918
1922
1926
1930
1934
1938
1942
1946
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Attorney General elections
2022
Treasurer elections
2022
Senate elections
2006
2020
2022
2024
House of Representatives elections
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures
2004Question 711
2016Question 777
2018Question 788
2020Question 802
2023Question 820 :
Norman
Mayoral elections
2022 :
Oklahoma City
Mayoral elections
1911
2014
2018
2022 :
Tulsa
Municipal elections
2022
2024
Mayoral elections
2002
2006
2009
2013
2016
2020
2024 :
Government :
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Elections in the State of Oklahoma are established by the Oklahoma Constitution in Section 1 of Article 3. They are governed by the Oklahoma State Election Board.
In a 2020 study, Oklahoma was ranked as the 14th hardest state for citizens to vote in.

## Constitution provisions

   All elections shall be free and equal. No power, civil or military, shall ever interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage, and electors shall, in all cases, except for treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance on elections and while going to and from the same.

## Voter qualifications

Subject to such exceptions as the Oklahoma Legislature may prescribe, all citizens of the United States, over the age of eighteen and who are residents of this state, may register to vote as a qualified elector of Oklahoma.

## Types of elections
### General election

The general election for all elected state, district and country officers is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November every two years. Those offices whose term expires the year following the general election must face election in that general election. For the statewide elected executive offices (the Governor of Oklahoma, Attorney General of Oklahoma, etc.), they must face election in the general election held two years after the last election for President of the United States. Thus, the most recent gubernatorial election was held in 2022, and the most recent presidential election was held in 2020,
Candidates for United States Senator and United States Representative are elected in the state general election occurring as their term expires.

### Primary election

A primary election must be held for a political party to nominate its candidates for the offices to the filled at the next general election. Such primaries are held on the last Tuesday in June of each year in which a general election is to be held, unless it is a presidential preference primary, in which case it is the First Tuesday after the First Monday in March. No candidate's name may be printed on the general election ballot unless such candidate has been nominated by his political party by a primary election. However, nonpartisan candidates need not seek primary election nominations in order to appear on the general election ballot.

### Runoff primary election

If at any primary election no candidate for the nomination for office of any political party receives a majority of all votes cast for all candidates of the party for the office, then the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be placed on the official ballot as candidates for such nomination at a Runoff Primary Election to be held on the fourth Tuesday of August in the same year. The winner of the runoff primary shall be the political party's nomination for the office to be filled.

## Election provisions
### Closed primaries

Oklahoma operates a modified closed primary system, in which only members of a given political party may vote in that party's primary and runoff primary elections. The system is "modified" in that the chairman of each political party may allow registered Independents to vote in that party's primary election, but is not required to do so. Moreover, should Independents be allowed to vote in a primary election, the Independent may not vote in more than one political party's primary elections.
The Oklahoma Democratic chairman recently did decide to allow registered Independents to vote in the Democratic primary.

### Substitute candidates

In the event of the death of a political party's nominee for office prior to the date of the general election, a substitute candidate is permitted to have his name placed on the general election ballot. If the nominee was a candidate for a state office, the state central committee of the party affected must submit to the Secretary of the State Election Board of the name of an alternative candidate to be placed on the general election ballot. Such notice must be submitted in writing within five days after the death has occurred and must be signed by at least two members of the political party's state central committee.
If the death of the political party's nominee should occur five days or more following the Runoff Primary Election date, a special general election shall be called by the Governor of Oklahoma. For such special general election, the candidates for office are the substitute candidate named by the central committee, the nominee of other political parties nominated for office, and any previously filed independent candidates.

## Political parties
### Party Recognition

A group of persons may form a recognized political party at any time except during the period between March 1 and November 15 of any even-numbered year if the following procedure is observed:
1. Notice of intent to form a recognized political party must be filed in writing with the Secretary of the State Election Board at any time except during the period between March 1 and November 15 of any even-numbered year;
2. After such notice is filed, petitions seeking recognition of a political party, in a form to be prescribed by the Secretary of the State Election Board, shall be filed with such Secretary, bearing the signatures of registered voters equal to at least 3% percent of the total votes cast in the last General Election for Governor. Each page of such petitions must contain the names of registered voters from a single county. Petitions may be circulated a maximum of one year after notice is filed, provided that petitions shall be filed with the Secretary no later than March 1 of an even-numbered year. Such petitions shall not be circulated between March 1 and November 15 of any even-numbered year; and
3. Within thirty days after receipt of such petitions, the State Election Board shall determine the sufficiency of such petitions. If such Board determines there are a sufficient number of valid signatures of registered voters, the party becomes recognized under the laws of the State of Oklahoma with all rights and obligations accruing thereto.
If a party's nominee for Governor, or nominees for electors for President and Vice President, fail to receive at least 2.5% percent of the total votes cast for said offices in the general election, that party's recognition automatically ceases, and that party must once again go through the process of gaining recognition.

### Current recognized parties

* Democratic Party
* Republican Party
* Libertarian Party

### Current active parties

* Green Party
* America's Independent Party of Oklahoma
* Constitution Party
* Pirate Party of Oklahoma

### Current recognized organizations

* Americans Elect