Judge upholds state's absentee voting laws
An Oklahoma judge has rejected a lawsuit from Democratic groups seeking to ease the state's absentee voting laws in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Oklahoma Democratic Party and t he Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sued t he State Election Board over Oklahoma's absentee voting laws, namely a provision that requires absentee ballots to be notarized.
Chief U.S. District Judge John Dow dell denied the groups' requests for a temporary injunction seeking a halt to some absentee voter requirements. He said the State Election Board's interest in preventing voter fraud outweighs any minor inconvenience absentee voters may face.
State elections officials have said the notary requirement and a photo ID requirement, allowed in some absentee voting situations, are crucial to verifying that the person who cast an absentee ballot is the same person who requested said ballot.
Dowdell pointed to a law state legislators passed this year that provides an alternative to ballot notarization if Oklahoma is in a state of emergency leading up to an election. Due to an emergency declaration from Gov. Kevin Stitt, absentee voters will not be required to have their ballots notarized this November.
In lieu of notarization, absentee voters will be able to include a photocopy of a valid identification card with their ballot.
“The concerns about voting during the pandemic, especially as to elderly and other voters who are at a higher risk for serious outcomes, are justified ," Dow dell wrote ." However, the state has put in place alternatives that do not necessarily require that voters have direct contact with others in order to cast an absentee ballot.”
Attorney General Mike Hunter, who def ended Oklahoma' s voting laws, applauded the judge's ruling.
“The procedures put in place by the Legislature this year, and extended by the governor's recent executive order, make it perfectly safe for Oklahomans t o cast t heir ballot f or t he November election," he said. "Not to mention, hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans have already voted in both the primary and runoff elections earlier this year in-person and by absentee ballot."
The Democratic groups said certain absentee voting laws, including measures that require voters to use their own stamps and return their ballots before polls close on Election Day, violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments by imposing "undue burdens" on the right to vote. It's not clear if the groups will appeal the judge's ruling.
For more i nformation on absentee voting, visit ok.gov/ elections.