An Act
ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 3321 By: Miller and Roe of the House
and
Stanley of the Senate
An Act relating to elections; requiring ballots be
printed on paper; providing method of voting for
certain persons privately and independently; amending
26 O.S. 2021, Sections 7 -130, 14-101.1 and 21-101,
which relate to the election code; prohibiting
watchers' appearance by electronic device;
prohibiting connection of devices to Internet;
authorizing certain secure network connection between
State Election Board and county election boards;
modifying definition; requiring certain voting system
to report official returns by precinct; specifying
information based on votes cast in person or by
absentee ballot; and providing for codification .
SUBJECT: Elections
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 6-104.1 of Title 26, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
All ballots used for any election shall be printed on paper to
ensure a fair and accurate count; provided, each precinct polling
place and in-person absentee voting location shall provid e a means
for any voter who requires as sistance by reason of blindness,
disability, or inabil ity to read or write to cast a ballot privately
and independently, in a manner to be determined by the Secretary of
the State Election Board.
ENR. H. B. NO. 3321 Page 2
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 26 O.S. 2021, Section 7-130, is
amended to read as follows :
Section 7-130. Any candidate or any recognized political party
shall be entitled to have a watcher present at any place where an
official count is being conducted. Such watcher must be
commissioned in writing by the candidate, or by the chair of the
recognized political party of th e county in which the watcher is
being authorized. Such commission must be filed with the secretary
of the appropriate county election board no later than 5:00 p.m. on
Wednesday preceding t he election. Watchers must subscribe to an
oath to observe all la ws and rules prescribed for watchers as
hereinafter provided. Such oath must be administered by the
inspector of the precinct in which the watcher is autho rized.
Watchers shall be entitled to observe the voting device both before
the polls are opened and after the polls are closed; provided,
further, that such watchers shall not be present at the polling
place at other times. Watchers may be commissioned t o observe
voting device testing an d to accompany personnel assigned to repair
or maintain machines d uring the period of the election. In s uch
case, the watchers shall be limited to observing the repair or
maintenance work being performed and making a writ ten record of such
work. All watchers shall only appear in person and the use of
watchers via electronic devices is prohibited. Any watcher who
violates the law prescribed for watchers shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of la w to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes a s Section 9-121 of Title 26, unless there
is created a duplication in nu mbering, reads as follows:
Devices or equipment us ed by the State Election Board or a
county election board to count or tabulate ballots shal l be
prohibited from connecting to the Int ernet. Provided, this shall
not serve to prohibit a secure network conne ction between the State
Election Board and a count y election board for the purpose of
transmitting or recei ving voter registration or electio n-related
data.
SECTION 4. AMENDATORY 26 O.S. 2021, Section 14 -101.1, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 14-101.1 A. For the purposes of this section,
"absentee ballot harvesting " means:
ENR. H. B. NO. 3321 Page 3
1. Collecting or obtaining an absent ee ballot from another
person with the intent to submit, transmit or return the ballot to
election officials on behalf of that person;
2. Submitting, returning or t ransmitting an absentee ballot to
election officials on b ehalf of another person;
3. Collecting or obtaining an absentee b allot from another
person under a false pretense or promise of transm itting, returning
or submitting it to election officials on beha lf of that person;
4. Requesting or receiving an absente e ballot on behalf of
another person;
5. Distributing an absentee ba llot application or request to a
voter using the official letterhead of a candid ate or elected
official;
6. Partially or fully co mpleting an application for an absentee
ballot on behalf of another person without that person's prior
consent; or
6. 7. Notarizing or witnessing more absentee ballots t han
allowed by law.
B. Absentee ballot harvesting shall be unlawful at any election
conducted by a county election board, the State Election Board or
any political subdivision of this state; provided, the fol lowing
shall not be deemed to be ballot harvest ing:
1. A voter's assistant or agent acting pursuant to law as
otherwise allowed by Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes this title;
2. An absentee voting board member, as described in Title 26 of
the Oklahoma Statutes this title, who assists a voter confined to a
nursing home or veterans center pursuant to law;
3. An employee of the Federal Voting Assistance Pr ogram, the
United States Department of Defense or the Oklahoma National Guard
who assists a uniformed-services voter in returning or transmitting
an absentee ballot;
4. A spouse, relative in the first or second degree of
consanguinity or affinity or cohab itant of a voter who forwards an
absentee ballot to the voter when absent from the home; ENR. H. B. NO. 3321 Page 4
5. A voter's spouse who, with the voter 's consent, returns the
voter's absentee ballot by mail; or
6. An official action by an election official that is required
or authorized by law.
SECTION 5. AMENDATORY 26 O.S. 2021, Section 21-101, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 21-101. A. The Secretary of the State Election Board
is hereby authorized beginning Ju ly 1, 1989, to purchase equipment
for and implement a unitary, unified, integrated system o f election
administration for the State of Oklahoma that includes an electronic
data processing system for maintenance of vot er registration
records, certification o f election results and other
election-related applications, and the installation of electro nic,
optical scanning voting devices compatible with the same system in
every precinct polling place.
B. The Secretary of th e State Election Board is authorized to
adopt procedures consistent, insofar as practicab le, with existing
law for implementation o f the system.
C. Except as provided in subsection A of this section, no
electronic data processing applications shall be implemented by a
county election board, nor shall voting de vices be purchased by a
county, except for those electronic data processin g applications and
voting devices already in use or for which a contract had been
signed by no later than March 31, 1986.
D. A new unitary integrated voting system described in
subsection A of this section that is implemented on or after January
1, 2023, shall be required to report the official election returns
of each election by precinct , including, but not limited to, all
votes cast in person and by absentee ballot.
ENR. H. B. NO. 3321 Page 5
Passed the House of Representatives the 10th day of May, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
Passed the Senate the 20th day of April, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this ____________________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _ ______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _____ ____
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of the Stat e of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY O F STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________