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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
SENATE BILL 995 By: Prieto
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to elections; stating legis lative
findings and intent; providing certain best
practices; requiring certain post -election audits;
establishing procedures and requirements for certain
audits; authorizing Legislature to require certain
audits; requiring re ports of certain audits;
requiring reports to be made available to the public;
requiring State Election Board to promulgate certain
rules; requiring certain consul tation; defining
terms; amending 26 O.S. 2021, Section s 4-101 and 4-
120.2, as last amended by Section 4, Chapter 293,
O.S.L. 2022 (26 O.S. Supp. 2022, Section 4 -120.2),
which relate to voter registration; prohibiting voter
registration for certain persons; increasing
frequency of certain address confirmati on mailings;
modifying date for removal o f certain voter
registrations; incre asing frequency for
identification of duplicate voter registrations;
requiring certain annual report to Legislature by
Secretary of the State Election B oard; requiring
annual audit of voter registration database by
Attorney General; establishing requiremen ts for
certain audit; requiring report of certain audit to
Legislature; amending 26 O.S. 2021, Section 7-130, as
amended by Section 2, Chapter 291, O.S.L. 2022 (26
O.S. Supp. 2022, Sec tion 7-130), which relates to
election watchers; expanding ability of election
watchers to observe the election process;
establishing requirements for authorized observation
by election watchers; pr ohibiting certain actions by
election watchers; creating misdemeanor offense;
repealing 26 O.S. 2021, Section 3 -130, which relates
to post-election audits; providing for codification;
providing an effective date; and de claring an
emergency.
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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 3-130A of Title 26, unless there
is created a duplica tion in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The Legislature hereby finds that the auditing of election
results is necessary to ensure effective election administration and
public confidence in the election process.
B. By enacting this section, the Legislature intends that the
state conduct a post-election audit of election results that is
developed with the assistance of statistical experts and that relies
upon statistical audits making use of best practice s for conducting
such audits. Such best practices sh all include:
1. All ballot types shall be eligible to be included in every
audit including but not limited to absentee ballots, provisional
ballots, early voting ballots, and election day ballots ;
2. Audit shall be conducted in a public forum, and watchers
shall be allowed to observe the audit process; and
3. Audit results shall be able to reverse preliminary outcomes
if the audit determines they are incorrect.
C. Following each primary, general, runoff, recall, or
congressional vacancy election, each c ounty shall make use of a
post-election audit of election results in accordance with the
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requirements of this section. Races to be audited shall be selected
in accordance with procedures established by the State Election
Board and all contested races shall be eligible for such selection.
D. A comprehensive procedural audit sh all be conducted every
five (5) years in jurisdictions randomly selected by the State
Election Board. Such audit shall be conducted by the State Election
Board on the entire process of voting including but not limited to
voter registration, mac hine tabulation, ballot security, ballot and
voting system design .
E. At any time, the Legislature may require a comprehensive
procedural audit of election results in any jurisdiction using the
standards promulgated by the State Election Board . Such audit may
be requested by the Legislature while not in session with the
consent of the President Pro Tempore of the S enate and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives .
F. The secretary of each county election board shall report the
findings of the post-election audit of election results to the
Secretary of the State Election Boa rd. The Secretary of the State
Election Board shall make the resu lts of the procedural audit
available to the public.
G. The State Election Board shall promulgate rules and
procedures as necessary to implement and administer the requirements
of this section. In the promulgation of such rules, the State
Election Board shall consult statistical experts, equipment vendors,
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county clerks, and recorders and shall consider best practices for
conducting audits.
H. As used in this section:
1. “Incorrect outcome” means an outcome that is inconsistent
with the election outcome that would be obtained by conducting a
full recount; and
2. “Post-election audit of election results ” means an audit
protocol that makes use of statistical methods and is designed to
limit to acceptable levels the risk of certifying a preliminary
election outcome that constitutes an incorrect outcome.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 26 O.S. 2021, Section 4 -101, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 4-101. Every person who is a qualified elector as
defined by Section 1 of Article III of t he Oklahoma Constitution
shall be entitled to become a registered voter in the precinct of
his or her residence, with the following conditions:
1. Persons convicted of a felony shall be eligible to register
to vote when they have fully served their senten ce of court-mandated
calendar days, including any te rm of incarceration, parole or
supervision, or completed a period of probation ordered by any
court; and
2. Any person who has been adjudged to be an incapacitated
person as such term is defined by Secti on 1-111 of Title 30 of the
Oklahoma Statutes shall be ineligible to register to vote. When
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such incapacitated person has been adjudged to be no longer
incapacitated such person shall be eligible to become a registered
voter. The provisions of this parag raph shall not prohibit any
person adjudged to be a partially incapacitated person as such term
is defined by Section 1-111 of Title 30 of the Oklahoma Statutes
from being eligible to register to vote unless the order adjudging
the person to be partially i ncapacitated restricts such person from
being eligible to register to vote .; and
3. A person who is not a citizen of the United States shall not
be eligible to register to vote in any election conducted in this
state.
SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 26 O.S. 2021, Section 4 -120.2, as
last amended by Section 4, Chapter 293, O.S.L. 2022 (26 O.S. Supp.
2022, Section 4-120.2), is amended to read as follows:
Section 4-120.2. A. No later than June 1 of each odd-numbered
year, any voter identified within the previous twenty-four (24)
twelve (12) months as subject to the provisions of this subsection
shall be sent an address confirmation mailing prescribed by the
Secretary of the State Election Board and paid for by the state.
The following shall be subject to the provisions of this subsec tion:
1. Any voter for whom a first-class mailing from the cou nty
election board or the State Elect ion Board was return ed;
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2. Any voter identified by the Secretary of the State Election
Board as a potential duplicate voter in another county in this state
or in another state;
3. Any voter identified in subsection C of Section 4-118.1 of
this title who has not updated his or her voter registration;
4. Any registered voter identified in subsection F of Section
4-120.3 of this title whose voter registration has not been
canceled;
5. Any active registered voter who did not vote in the second
previous general election or any election conducted by a county
election board since the second previous g eneral election and who
has initiated no voter registration change;
6. Any registered voter who w as sent a notice and application
to update a voter registration address as required by subsection B
of Section 4-109.3 of this title, but whose voter r egistration
address has not been updated or canceled; and
7. Any voter who is registered to vote and has the same address
of residence as five or more other registered voters. “Same address
of residence” means the same street name, same street direction,
same street type, same st reet post direction, same street number,
same building or apartment number, and same ZIP code.
Voters who do not respond to the co nfirmation mailing or whose
mailing is returned as nonforwardable or undeliverable as addressed
shall be designated as inactiv e sixty (60) days after the mailing.
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B. An inactive voter’s status shall be changed to active under
the following conditions:
1. With any registration change initiated by the voter; or
2. By voting in any election conducted by a county election
board.
An inactive voter who does not vote in any election conducted by
a county election board during the period beg inning on the date of
the confirmation mailing and ending on the day after the date of the
second successive general election for federal office on December 1
of each year shall be removed as a registered voter and all the
information on that vot er shall be destroyed. Each county election
board secretary shall maintain a list of the names and addresses of
all persons sent a confirmation mailing as described in this section
and information on whether each such person has responded to the
notice. The list shall be maintained f or twenty-four (24) months
following the date of the second successive federal general election
after the date of the confirmation mailing.
C. The secretary of each county election board shall cause all
inactive voters in a precinct to be identified on the precinct
registry.
D. No later than June 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
Secretary of the State Election Board shall identify duplicate voter
registrations in the state and shall direct appropriate county
election board secretaries to cancel the voter registration of all
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but the latest registration of duplicate voter registrations. Each
county election board sec retary shall maintain for twenty-four (24)
months a list of the names and addresses of all canceled dupli cate
voter registrations. For the purposes of this subsect ion, duplicate
voter registrations are those registrations which contain the
following identical information on more than one registration:
1. First name, middle name or initial, last name, and d ate of
birth;
2. Driver license number and date of birth; o r
3. Last name, date of birth, and the last four digits of the
Social Security number.
SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be co dified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 4-122 of Title 26, unless there
is created a duplication in numb ering, reads as follows:
By December 31 of each year, the Secretary of the State Election
Board shall provide a report to the President Pro Tempore of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives detailing the
number of voters removed from the voter registration database due to
inactivity, death, convicted felony, mental incompetence, v oluntary
cancellation, relocation to another ju risdiction, or for any other
reason.
SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 4-123 of Title 26, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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No later than Decembe r 31 of each year, the Attorney General
shall conduct an audit of the voter registration database. The
audit shall include a random selection of a least two percent of the
active registered voters state wide, and shall include active
registered voters from each county. For each voter selected for the
audit, the auditor shall verify that the voter is eligible for the
registration, verify that the voter ’s registration information is
accurate and supported by the documentation on file, check for
duplicate voter registrations, search available resources to
determine whether the voter is inactive, deceased, convicted of a
felony, or adjudicated as incapacitated. The audit report shall
identify areas of concern or training needed in response to the
audit findings. The Attorney General shall share the audit results
with the State Election Board and verify that the county election
boards address the concerns and fulfill the tra ining identified
during the audit. No later than December 31 of each year, the
Attorney General shall report the audit results to the President Pro
Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and post the results on the Attorney General’s
publicly available websit e.
SECTION 6. AMENDATORY 26 O.S. 2021, Section 7-130, as
amended by Section 2, Chapter 291, O.S.L. 2022 (26 O.S. Supp. 2022,
Section 7-130), is amended to read as follows:
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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 to observe all stages of the
election process including but not limited to the testing,
maintenance, and certification of election technologies, any place
where an official count is being conducted, canvassing, elector
appeals, vote tabulation, ballot transport, audits, and recounts.
The precinct official shall clearly designate observation areas for
watchers. The observation areas shall be not less t han three feet
from nor more than six feet from the table at which electors
announce their name and address to be issued a voter number at the
polling place, office, or alternate site , and not less than three
feet from nor more than six feet from the table at which a person
may register to vote at the pollin g place, office, or alternate
site. The observation areas shall be positioned to permit any
watcher to readily observe all public aspects of the voting process.
A watcher is entitled to bring in voter lists to observe and to flag
ballots for review. Such watcher must be commissioned in writing by
the candidate, or by the chair of the recogn ized political party of
the 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
the election. Watchers must subscribe to an oath to observe all
laws and rules prescribed for watchers as hereinafter provided.
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Such oath must be administered by the inspector of the precinct in
which the watcher is authorized. Watchers shall be entitled to
observe the voting device both befor e 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 to observe voting device testing an d to accompany
personnel assigned to rep air or maintain machines d uring the period
of the election. In such case, the watchers shall be limited to
observing the repair or maintenance work being performed an d making
a written record of such work. All watchers shall only appear in
person and the use of watchers via elect ronic devices is prohibited.
A watcher shall not wear any campaign material advocating for or
against a candidate or ballot question. A wat cher shall not
interfere with any elector in the preparation or casting of the
elector’s ballot or hinder or prevent the performance of the duties
of any election official. Any watcher who violates the law
prescribed for watchers shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
Any precinct official who violates the provisions of this section
shall be deemed guilty of a misdem eanor.
SECTION 7. REPEALER 26 O.S. 2021, Section 3-130, is
hereby repealed.
SECTION 8. This act shall become effective July 1, 2023.
SECTION 9. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, he alth or safety, an emergency is hereby
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declared to exist, by reas on whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
59-1-1384 TEK 1/19/2023 12:11:01 PM