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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
HOUSE BILL 1843 By: Fugate and Blancett
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to elections; amending 26 O.S. 2011,
Section 7-116.1, which relates to prov isional
ballots; authorizing absentee voter to cast certain
provisional ballot; providing exceptions; providing
for codification; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 26 O.S. 2011, Section 7 -116.1, is
amended to read as follows:
A. Provisional ballots shall be available for all elections
conducted by the county election board. Provisional ballots shall
include all offices, candidates and questions and sh all be identical
to the regular ballots for each precinct. The Secretary of the
State Election Board shall promulgate rules and shall prescribe
materials necessary for the implementation of provisional ballots.
B. Persons who are not listed in the precin ct registry, but who
claim to be registered voters in the precinct and eligible to vote
in the election, shall be entitled to vote a provisional ballot upon
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execution of an affidavit prescribed by the Secretary of the State
Election Board. Registered vote rs required to show identification,
as described in Section 7-114, 14-115.4 or 14-121 of this title and
who are unable to show one of the acceptable forms of identification
described in such sections, shall be entitled to cast a provisional
ballot. Persons identified in Section 14 -121 of this title shall be
entitled to vote a provisional ballot upon execution of an affidavit
prescribed by the Secretary of the State Election Board. Persons
who are listed in the precinct registry for a partisan primary
election, but who dispute the political affiliation indicated by
such precinct registry, shall be entitled to vote a provisional
ballot for a party other than the one indicated. However, such
provisional ballot shall be counted only if evidence is found by th e
secretary of the county election board of the voter’s valid voter
registration in the party for which the provisional ballot was cast.
Persons described in Section 2 of this act shall be entitled to cast
a provisional ballot.
C. Provisional ballots shal l be segregated from the regular
ballots cast in the precinct in the manner prescribed by the
Secretary of the State Election Board and shall not be inserted in
the precinct voting device. Information provided by a person who
votes a provisional ballot sh all be investigated by the secretary of
the county election board after the election. A provisional ballot
shall be counted only if it is cast in the precinct of the voter’s
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residence and if evidence of the provisional voter’s valid voter
registration, or of the voter’s identity, is found, except a
provisional ballot cast by a voter identified in Section 14 -121 of
this title shall be counted.
D. No information concerning provisional ballots, except the
number of provisional ballots cast in the county, sha ll be made
public by any election official prior to 1:00 p.m. on Friday
following the election. The county sheriff shall secure sealed
ballot transfer cases containing provisional ballots that have been
counted after 1:00 p.m. on Friday following the elec tion until 5:00
p.m. on Tuesday next succeeding the election or, in the event a
recount contest is filed, until such times as the transfer cases
are delivered to the district courtroom.
E. In the event that the secretary of any county election board
is unable to complete the investigation and verification of
provisional ballots by 1:00 p.m. on Friday following the election,
the Secretary of the State Election Board shall be authorized to
extend the period for the investigation and verification of
provisional ballots. When such an extension is required by any
county for a statewide election, the extension shall apply
statewide. The Secretary shall promulgate rules establishing
procedures for requesting and granting such extensions.
F. All materials used for procuring and casting a provisional
ballot shall be retained by the secretary of the county election
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board for a period of twenty -four (24) months after the day of the
election.`
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be cod ified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 14 -134.1 of Title 26, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
An absentee voter may cast a n in-person provisional ballot
pursuant to Section 7 -116.1 of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statute s on
election day at the polling place for the precinct to which the
voter is assigned or at an in-person absentee voting site in the
county where the voter is registered to vote during the in -person
absentee voting period if:
1. The ballot of the absentee voter has not been received by
the county election board by election day; provided , the provisional
ballot shall only be counted if the secretary of the county e lection
board confirms that the absentee ballot was not rec eived by the
statutory deadline; or
2. The absentee voter received a notice of rejection on or
before election day; provided, the provisional ballot shall only be
counted if the secretary of the county election board confirms that
the absentee ballot was rejected.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2021.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND ETHICS, dated
02/11/2021 - DO PASS, As Coauthored.