Notary bill passes Oklahoma house
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The battle over absentee ballots continues at the State Capitol. New legislation would make a State Supreme Court decision concerning voter access, just 48 hours old, null and void.
Opponents say old rules need to go to make sure people have access to voting in this time of pandemic. Supporter of a new amendment say it protects against voter fraud.
“I just think we are adding more barriers,” said Rep. Cyndi Munson.
“If we leave it this way, there is no verification,” said Rep. Chris Kannady.
The debate got heated and lengthy on the House floor as representatives tackled a bill amendment that would change state laws for absentee voting.
This comes just two days after the State Supreme Court ruled that absentee ballots do not have to be notarized.
“That was a victory for the voters of Oklahoma,” said Jan Largent of the Oklahoma League of Women Voters.
The League of Women Voters is happy about the State Supreme Court decision that upholds an 18-year-old law that the election board had not applied to absentee ballots. Voter’s rights advocates say, with the current pandemic, getting in contact with a notary would be a risk to public health
“Where the heck do they go to get a notary? They’ve gotta drive into town, make a special trip once again exposing themselves to possible infection. We just need to limit that as much as possible and to vote as safely as we can,” said Jim Potts of Oklahoma City.
The author of the amendment, Chris Kannady, says this bill would reinstitute the notary provision because without it there is no way to verify a voter’s identity. But in this time of pandemic, another part of the new law allows for voters to make a photo copy of a photo ID and send it in with the ballot to verify it.
“When you go to the ballot box and vote, they verify your ID. What we are doing is just putting that minimum standard across the board to include absentee ballots,” said Kannady.
The State Election Board says additions of photo ID to verify in a time of emergency was their idea, but they say notary has worked as a safeguard against voter fraud.
“I definitely want to make voting as easy as possible for voters, but you have to balance that with security and not make it easy for those who would like to disrupt our elections,” said Paul Ziriax, Secretary of the Oklahoma State Election Board.
When asked, officials weren’t aware of any convicted voter fraud cases in the last five years.
“I know of no cases of voter fraud in the last five years, but we’ve had a procedure in place, and if we do nothing, then we will be one of a handful of states that have no mechanism whatsoever to do a verification,” said Kannady.
But Oklahoma was only one of only three states that had the notary rule. Opponents of the legislation say fraud is of small concern and the new laws would limit voter access. They say the emergency addition of a photo ID clause still puts high risk citizens in danger.
“Many people don’t have printers in their homes, so that would mean they would have to go out someplace else to get a copy. It is a requirement that hinders people to vote, especially those of us who are in the 65 to older category,” said Jan Largent.
The bill amendment passed the house 74-26. The vote broke almost exactly along party line. It now moves over to the Oklahoma State Senate for a another vote that’s expected later this week.