1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2 1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
3 HOUSE BILL 1843 By: Fugate
4
5
6 AS INTRODUCED
7 An Act relating to elections; amending 26 O.S. 2011,
Section 7-116.1, which relates to provisional
8 ballots; authorizing absentee voter to cast certain
provisional ballot; providing exceptions; providing
9 for codification; and providing an effective date.
10
11
12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
13 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 26 O.S. 2011, Section 7-116.1, is
14 amended to read as follows:
15 A. Provisional ballots shall be available for all elections
16 conducted by the county election board. Provisional ballots shall
17 include all offices, candidates and questions and shall be identical
18 to the regular ballots for each precinct. The Secretary of the
19 State Election Board shall promulgate rules and shall prescribe
20 materials necessary for the implementation of provisional ballots.
21 B. Persons who are not listed in the precinct registry, but who
22 claim to be registered voters in the precinct and eligible to vote
23 in the election, shall be entitled to vote a provisional ballot upon
24 execution of an affidavit prescribed by the Secretary of the State
Req. No. 6887 Page 1
1 Election Board. Registered voters required to show identification,
2 as described in Section 7-114, 14-115.4 or 14-121 of this title and
3 who are unable to show one of the acceptable forms of identification
4 described in such sections, shall be entitled to cast a provisional
5 ballot. Persons identified in Section 14-121 of this title shall be
6 entitled to vote a provisional ballot upon execution of an affidavit
7 prescribed by the Secretary of the State Election Board. Persons
8 who are listed in the precinct registry for a partisan primary
9 election, but who dispute the political affiliation indicated by
10 such precinct registry, shall be entitled to vote a provisional
11 ballot for a party other than the one indicated. However, such
12 provisional ballot shall be counted only if evidence is found by the
13 secretary of the county election board of the voter’s valid voter
14 registration in the party for which the provisional ballot was cast.
15 Persons described in Section 2 of this act shall be entitled to cast
16 a provisional ballot.
17 C. Provisional ballots shall be segregated from the regular
18 ballots cast in the precinct in the manner prescribed by the
19 Secretary of the State Election Board and shall not be inserted in
20 the precinct voting device. Information provided by a person who
21 votes a provisional ballot shall be investigated by the secretary of
22 the county election board after the election. A provisional ballot
23 shall be counted only if it is cast in the precinct of the voter’s
24 residence and if evidence of the provisional voter’s valid voter
Req. No. 6887 Page 2
1 registration, or of the voter’s identity, is found, except a
2 provisional ballot cast by a voter identified in Section 14-121 of
3 this title shall be counted.
4 D. No information concerning provisional ballots, except the
5 number of provisional ballots cast in the county, shall be made
6 public by any election official prior to 1:00 p.m. on Friday
7 following the election. The county sheriff shall secure sealed
8 ballot transfer cases containing provisional ballots that have been
9 counted after 1:00 p.m. on Friday following the election until 5:00
10 p.m. on Tuesday next succeeding the election or, in the event a
11 recount contest is filed, until such times as the transfer cases
12 are delivered to the district courtroom.
13 E. In the event that the secretary of any county election board
14 is unable to complete the investigation and verification of
15 provisional ballots by 1:00 p.m. on Friday following the election,
16 the Secretary of the State Election Board shall be authorized to
17 extend the period for the investigation and verification of
18 provisional ballots. When such an extension is required by any
19 county for a statewide election, the extension shall apply
20 statewide. The Secretary shall promulgate rules establishing
21 procedures for requesting and granting such extensions.
22 F. All materials used for procuring and casting a provisional
23 ballot shall be retained by the secretary of the county election
24
Req. No. 6887 Page 3
1 board for a period of twenty-four (24) months after the day of the
2 election.`
3 SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
4 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 14-134.1 of Title 26, unless
5 there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
6 An absentee voter may cast an in-person provisional ballot
7 pursuant to Section 7-116.1 of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes on
8 election day at the polling place for the precinct to which the
9 voter is assigned or at an in-person absentee voting site in the
10 county where the voter is registered to vote during the in-person
11 absentee voting period if:
12 1. The ballot of the absentee voter has not been received by
13 the county election board by election day; provided, the provisional
14 ballot shall only be counted if the secretary of the county election
15 board confirms that the absentee ballot was not received by the
16 statutory deadline; or
17 2. The absentee voter received a notice of rejection on or
18 before election day; provided, the provisional ballot shall only be
19 counted if the secretary of the county election board confirms that
20 the absentee ballot was rejected.
21 SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2021.
22
23 58-1-6887 LRB 01/16/21
24
Req. No. 6887 Page 4