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ENGROSSED HOUSE
BILL NO. 3294 By: Lepak and McDugle of the
House
and
Jett of the Senate
An Act relating to elections; amending Section 1,
Chapter 194, O.S.L. 2022, as amen ded by Section 1,
Chapter 80, O.S.L. 2023 (26 O.S. Supp. 2023, Section
7-139), which relates to the Prohibit the Private
Funding of Elections Act; adding prohibitions;
requiring disclosure of certain memberships;
prohibiting election officials from certain
memberships; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLA HOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY Section 1, Chapter 194, O.S.L.
2022, as amended by Sect ion 1, Chapter 80, O.S.L. 2023 (26 O.S.
Supp. 2023, Section 7-139), is amended to read as follows:
Section 7-139. A. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the "Prohibit the Private Funding of Elections Act".
B. As used in this section:
1. "Person" means any individual, proprietorship, firm,
partnership, joint venture, syndicate, labor union, business trust,
company, association, committee, corporation, whether or not
operated for profit, or any other organization or group of persons
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acting in concert, or any other nongovernmental third-party entity;
and
2. "Public funds" means funds derived from taxes, fees,
including candidate filing fees, and other sources of public revenue
lawfully appropriated o r expended by Congress, the Legislature, or
any other governmental entity, or funds from an entity that is
authorized to pay for an election pursuant to state law.
C. 1. All costs and expenses of conducting and administrating
elections shall be paid for with public funds ; provided nothing in
this section shall apply to franchise elections described in
Sections 5(a) and 5(b) of Article XVIII of the Oklahoma
Constitution.
2. No government official or election official shall solicit,
take, or otherwise accept from any pe rson, any contribution,
donation, or anything else of value for purposes of conducting or
administrating any election pursuant to the provisions of this
title, including services or funds, which may or may not be cred its,
offsets, or other inducements, directly offered from a membership
organization of which the government officia l or election official
is a member, for the purposes of conducting and administrating
elections.
3. No person shall offer or provide any contribution, donation,
or anything else of value for purposes of conducting or
administrating any election pursuant to the provisions of this
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title, including services or funds, which may or may not be credits,
offsets, or other inducements, directly offered to a membership
organization of which the government official or election official
is a member, for the purposes of conducting and administrating
elections.
D. 1. For the purposes of this section, the following shall
not be considered a contr ibution, donation, or thing of value:
a. providing space or property for use as a polling place
or in-person absentee voting site at no charge or at a
below-market cost,
b. persons who volunteer their labor as precinct
officials, absentee voting board memb ers, or as
election workers,
c. persons who volunteer their labor to assist the county
election board or the State Election Board during
candidate filing, on Election Day, during in-person
absentee voting, or at other times,
d. food or beverage items of nominal value provided to
precinct officials, abse ntee voting board members, or
election officials,
e. items of nominal value including, but not limited to,
pens, sanitizer and clean ing supplies, or
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f. airing or publication of public service announcements
or press releases issued by the State Election Boa rd
or a county election board.
2. Donations not directly related to the administration of
elections, may be accepted by the Secretary of the State Election
Board or secretary of the county election board only upon written
approval by the Governor and written notification sent to the
Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and President Pro
Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate.
E. Any election official who, in his or her official capacity,
joins any membership organization, or who utilizes public funds to
pay membership dues to any membership orga nization, shall disclose
such membership on the website for the elec tion official’s agenc y.
In the event the election official’s agency does not have a websi te,
a notice of such membership shall be displayed conspicuously in a
public area of the agency’s o ffice.
F. No election official in his or her official capacity shall
join any membership organization that uses private funds for the
purposes of conducting and administrating elections.
G. A willful and intentional violation o f this act shall be
punishable as follows:
1. A first violation shall constitute a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction, be punishable by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand
Dollars ($5,000.00).
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2. A second violation shall constitute a mis demeanor and, upon
conviction, be punishable by a fine not to exceed Ten Thousand
Dollars ($10,000.00).
3. A third or any subsequent violation shall constitute a
felony and, upon conviction, be punishable by a fine not to exceed
Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), or by imprisonment in the
custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than
two (2) years nor more than five (5) years, or by both such fine and
imprisonment.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024.
Passed the House of Representatives the 12th day of March, 2024.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
Passed the Senate the ___ day of _________, 2024.
Presiding Officer of the Senate