Absentee Voting Laws Challenged by Groups

Alicia Andrews

The state Democratic Party and another group are suing the Oklahoma Election Board over several voting procedures it says “severely burden” the right to vote during the coronavirus crisis.

The state party and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are asking a federal judge to declare several of Oklahoma’s voting provisions unconstitutional.

In the lawsuit, the groups ask a judge to block the state from enforcing a recently passed notary requirement so long as absentee voters have signed their ballot affidavit.

The groups are asking a judge to prevent the state Election Board from requiring absentee voters to pay for postage, which they likened to a poll tax, to mail in absentee ballots.

Finally, they want reversed a legal provision that prevents groups like the Democratic Party and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from collecting and returning absentee ballots for those who may be physically incapacitated or susceptible to the virus crisis.