It had the makings of an election reform bill Republicans and Democrats could get behind.
Senate Bill 710 proposed authorizing Oklahoma to join a multistate cooperative whose members share voter and motor vehicle data to keep their voter rolls updated and root out fraud. Member states agree to mail voter registration information to residents identified as eligible but unregistered to vote.
“Oklahoma already has one of the best election systems in the nation, but these measures will further strengthen and modernize that system,” wrote bill sponsor Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher, after the proposal cleared the Senate on a 42-3 vote in March 2021. “It’s important that we maintain an accurate voter database and encourage eligible voters to participate in our election process.”
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed it into law in late April 2021. But two years later, Oklahoma lawmakers and the state’s top election official have soured on partnering with the Electronic Registration Information Center, citing dissatisfaction with its leadership, uncertainty about membership costs and data privacy concerns.
The reversal comes as officials in several other GOP-led states, including Florida, Iowa and Ohio, have opted to pull out of ERIC in recent months.
In the months immediately following the 2020 presidential election, where unfounded claims of widespread election fraud by former President Donald Trump prompted many Republican-controlled legislatures to seek more restrictive voting laws, ERIC...
Images of the Whitegate fuel protests earlier this month were altered to make it appear gardaí were violent towards protesters. The AI-doctored images were shared widely online, including by inter...