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28	28	STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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30	30	1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
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32	32	HOUSE JOINT
33	33	RESOLUTION 1023 By: Dollens
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38	38	AS INTRODUCED
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40	40	A Joint Resolution directing the Secretary of State
41	41	to refer to the people for their appro val or
42	42	rejection a proposed amendm ent to the Constitution of
43	43	the State of Oklahoma by adding a new Section 8 to
44	44	Article III; creating the Oklahoma Rank Choice Voting
45	45	Act; providing for when law goes into effect;
46	46	defining terms; created a method of casting and
47	47	tabulating votes in order of preference; providing
48	48	ballot title; and directing filing.
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55	55	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE OF THE
56	56	1ST SESSION OF THE 5 9TH OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE:
57	57	SECTION 1. The Secretary of State shall refer to the pe ople for
58	58	their approval or rejection, as and in the manner provided by law,
59	59	the following proposed amendment to the Constitution of the State of
60	60	Oklahoma by adding a new Secti on 8 to Article III thereof, to read
61	61	as follows:
62	62	Section 8. A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
63	63	"Oklahoma Rank Choice Voting Act". The State Election Board shall
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90	90	cause this section to become effective upon the next upgrade of the
91	91	voting processes used by the State Election Board.
92	92	B. 1. As used in this section , the following terms have the
93	93	following meanings:
94	94	1. "Batch elimination" means the simultaneous defeat of
95	95	multiple candidates for whom it is mathematically impossible to be
96	96	elected.
97	97	2. "Continuing ballot" means a ballot that is not an exhausted
98	98	ballot.
99	99	3. "Continuing candidate" means a candidate who has not been
100	100	defeated.
101	101	4. "Exhausted ballot" means a ballot that does not rank any
102	102	continuing candidate, contains an over vote at the highest continuing
103	103	ranking or contains two (2) or more sequential skipped rankin gs
104	104	before its highest continuing ranking.
105	105	5. "Highest continuing ranking " means the highest ranking on a
106	106	voter's ballot for a continuing candi date.
107	107	6. "Last-place candidate" means the candidate with the fewest
108	108	votes in a round of the ranked-choice voting tabulation.
109	109	7. "Mathematically impossible to be elected ", with respect to a
110	110	candidate, means either:
111	111	a. the candidate cannot be elected becau se the
112	112	candidate's vote total in a round of the ranked -choice
113	113	voting tabulation plus all votes that could possibly
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140	140	be transferred to the candidate in future rounds from
141	141	candidates with fewer votes or an equal number of
142	142	votes would not be enough to surpass the candidate
143	143	with the next-higher vote total in the round; or
144	144	b. the candidate has a lower vote total than another
145	145	candidate.
146	146	8. "Office elected by ranked -choice voting" means any of the
147	147	following offices: United States Senator, United States
148	148	Representative to Congress, Governor, State Senator and State
149	149	Representative, state office, district judge, associate district
150	150	judge, district attorney, and includes any nominations by primary
151	151	election to such offices.
152	152	9. "Overvote" means a circumstance in which a voter has ranked
153	153	more than one candidate at the same ranking.
154	154	10. "Ranked-choice voting" means the method of casting and
155	155	tabulating votes in which voters rank candidates in order of
156	156	preference, tabulation proceeds in sequential rounds in which last -
157	157	place candidates are defeated and the candi date with the most votes
158	158	in the final round is elected.
159	159	11. "Ranking" means the number assigned on a ballot by a voter
160	160	to a candidate to express the voter 's preference for that candidate.
161	161	Ranking number one is the highest ranking, ranking number 2 is the
162	162	next-highest ranking and so on.
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189	189	12. "Round" means an instance of the sequence of voting
190	190	tabulation steps.
191	191	13. "Skipped ranking" means a circumstance in which a voter has
192	192	left a ranking blank and ranks a candidate at a subsequent ranking.
193	193	C. For offices elected by ranked -choice voting, the ballot must
194	194	be simple and easy to understand and allow a voter to rank
195	195	candidates for an off ice in order of preference .
196	196	D. 1. The Secretary of the State Election Board shall tabulate
197	197	all votes that appear by an election return to have been cast for
198	198	each question or candidate whose name appeare d on the ballot. For
199	199	offices elected by ranked -choice voting, the Secretary of State
200	200	shall tabulate the votes acc ording to the ranked-choice voting
201	201	method.
202	202	2. The following procedures are used to determine th e winner in
203	203	an election for an office electe d by ranked-choice voting.
204	204	Tabulation must proc eed in rounds. In each round, the number of
205	205	votes for each continuing candidate mus t be counted. Each
206	206	continuing ballot counts as one vote for its highest -ranked
207	207	continuing candidate for that round. Exhausted ballots are not
208	208	counted for any continuing cand idate. The round then ends with one
209	209	of the following two potential outcomes:
210	210	a. if there are two or fewer continuing candidates, the
211	211	candidate with the most vot es is declared the winner
212	212	of the election, or
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239	239	b. if there are more than two continuing candidates, the
240	240	last-place candidate is defeated and a new r ound
241	241	begins.
242	242	3. A tie under this section between candidates for the most
243	243	votes in the final round or a tie b etween last-place candidates in
244	244	any round must be decided by lot, and the candidate chosen by lot is
245	245	defeated. The result of the tie resolution mu st be recorded and
246	246	reused in the event of a recount. Election officials may resolve
247	247	prospective ties between candidates before the election.
248	248	4. Modification of a ranked-choice voting ballot and tabulation
249	249	is permitted in accordance with the following :
250	250	a. the number of allowable rankings may be lim ited to no
251	251	fewer than six, or
252	252	b. two or more candidates may be de feated simultaneously
253	253	by batch elimination i n any round of tabulation.
254	254	5. For all statutory and constitutional provisions in the state
255	255	pertaining to the rights of political parties, the number of votes
256	256	cast for a party's candidate for an office elected by ranked-choice
257	257	voting is the number of votes credited to that candidate after the
258	258	initial counting in the first round .
259	259	SECTION 2. The Ballot Title for the proposed Constitutio nal
260	260	amendment as set forth in SECTION 1 of this resolution shall be in
261	261	the following form:
262	262	BALLOT TITLE
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289	289	Legislative Referendum No. ____ State Question No. ____
290	290	THE GIST OF THE PROPOSITION IS AS FOLLOWS:
291	291	This measure adds a new section to the Oklahoma Const itution.
292	292	It creates the Oklahoma Rank Choice Voting Act for certain
293	293	elected offices. It creates a method of casting and tabulating
294	294	votes in which voters rank candidates in order of preference,
295	295	tabulation proceeds in rounds in which last-place candidates are
296	296	defeated and the candidate with the most votes in the final
297	297	round is elected.
298	298	SHALL THE PROPOSAL BE APPRO VED?
299	299	FOR THE PROPOSAL — YES _____________
300	300	AGAINST THE PROPOSAL — NO _____________
301	301	SECTION 3. The Chief Clerk of the House of Rep resentatives,
302	302	immediately after the passa ge of this resolution, sh all prepare and
303	303	file one copy thereof, inclu ding the Ballot Title set forth in
304	304	SECTION 2 hereof, with the Secretary of State and one copy with the
305	305	Attorney General.
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307	307	59-1-5488 LRB 01/15/23

Oklahoma 2023 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HJR1023 Compare Versions