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Laws governing ballot measures in Oklahoma
From Ballotpedia
This page provides an overview of resources addressing the laws and procedures that govern statewide and local ballot measures in Oklahoma, including the initiative and referendum process, constitutional amendments, signature requirements, recall procedures, and campaign finance regulations.
Explore the links below for more information:
- Types of ballot measures in Oklahoma
- Laws governing the initiative process in Oklahoma
- Amending the Oklahoma Constitution
- Laws governing local ballot measures in Oklahoma
- Signature requirements for ballot measures in Oklahoma
- Laws governing recall in Oklahoma
- Laws governing state constitutional conventions in Oklahoma
- Campaign finance requirements for Oklahoma ballot measures
- Changes to laws governing ballot measures in Oklahoma
Laws governing ballot measures in Oklahoma
Types of ballot measures in Oklahoma
- Oklahoma has three types of citizen-initiated ballot measures: initiated constitutional amendments, initiated state statutes, and veto referendums.
- In Oklahoma, the legislature can refer constitutional amendments and state statutes to the ballot.
Laws governing the initiative process in Oklahoma
- In Oklahoma, citizens have the power to directly initiate state statutes or constitutional amendments, as well as the power to repeal legislation through veto referendums.
- Oklahoma was the first state to include the right to the initiative and referendum process in the original state constitution. Article V and Article XXIV of the Oklahoma Constitution reserve this right.
- From 1907 to 2024, voters decided 116 citizen-initiated ballot measures in Oklahoma.
Amending the Oklahoma Constitution
- Oklahoma became a state in 1907. The first and current state constitution was ratified that same year.
- The Oklahoma Constitution can be amended in three ways:
- Legislatively referred constitutional amendment: A simple majority vote is required during one legislative session for the Oklahoma State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
- Initiated constitutional amendment: Citizens can initiate constitutional amendments in Oklahoma.
- Convention-referred constitutional amendment: A state constitutional convention can vote to refer constitutional changes to the ballot.
Laws governing local ballot measures in Oklahoma
- All Oklahoma municipalities have a mandated initiative and referendum process for local ballot measures.
- Oklahoma Statutes §11‑15‑101 mandates the powers of initiative and referendum to all cities, whether it be for charter amendment or the enacting of ordinances.
Signature requirements for ballot measures in Oklahoma
- In Oklahoma, the number of signatures required for ballot initiatives is based on the total number of votes cast for the governor in the preceding election.
- An initiated state statute, requires a number of signatures equal to 8% of the votes cast for governor.
- An initiated constitutional amendment requires a number of signatures equal to 15% of the votes cast for governor.
- A veto referendum requires a number of signatures equal to 5% of the votes cast for governor.
- Oklahoma requires that no single county can provide more than a set percentage of the total required signatures. The exact percentage cap depends on the type of initiative:
- For initiated state statutes and veto referendums, no more than 11.5% of the required signatures may come from any single county, based on that county’s total votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.
- For initiated constitutional amendments, no more than 20.8% of the required signatures may come from any single county, based on that county’s total votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.
- For initiated constitutional amendments and state statutes, signatures must be submitted within 90 days after the state approves the petitions for circulation.
- For veto referendums, signatures must be submitted within 90 days of the adjournment of the enactment of the targeted legislation by the Oklahoma State Legislature.
Laws governing recall in Oklahoma
- Oklahoma law does not provide for the recall of state officers, county officers, school board members, or other elected officers. However, municipalities that are governed by a home rule charter may allow for the recall of certain city officers.
Laws governing state constitutional conventions in Oklahoma
- According to Section 2 of Article XXIV of the Oklahoma Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 20 years. Oklahoma is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.
Campaign finance requirements for Oklahoma ballot measures
- PACs that support or oppose ballot measures in Oklahoma must register and report campaign finance.
- According to Oklahoma state law, "any person (except a foreign national), including individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, corporations and labor unions, may make unlimited contributions to unlimited committees."[3]
Changes to laws governing ballot measures in Oklahoma
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
- Senate Bill 1027: The bill requires the gist of a proposition to explain the proposition in basic words, not contain any words that have special meaning or are not commonly known to the citizens of the state, not contain euphemisms or words that are code words or an attempt to deceive voters, be neutral, and indicate whether the proposition will have a fiscal impact and describe funding sources and tax increases. The bill also requires signature gatherers to be registered voters in the state. The bill also prohibits signature gatherers from being paid based on the number of signatures collected. The bill requires entities funding initiative signature gathering campaigns to submit weekly reports to the secretary of state detailing the expenditures and attesting that the funds are not from out of state. The bill limits the amount of signatures collected from a single county to 11.5% of the number of votes cast in the county in the last gubernatorial election for statutory petitions and 20.8% for constitutional petitions.[4]
| SB 1027 Vote | Senate | House | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | NV | Yes | No | NV | |
| Total | 36 | 8 | 3 | 69 | 23 | 6 |
| Democratic (D) | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| Republican (R) | 36 | 0 | 3 | 69 | 6 | 5 |
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Sooner Politics, "An Oklahoma Constitutional Convention Is Being Drawn Up", July 2, 2015
- ↑ According to the State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse, "Since 1970, Oklahoma’s legislature has refused to follow its Constitution with regard to this provision. In 1994, it placed a referendum on the ballot to eliminate this requirement, but the people of Oklahoma defeated it. Since 1990, many bills have been introduced to implement this part of the Constitution but none has passed."
- ↑ Annotated Ethics Rules, "Rule 2.36," accessed December 9, 2015
- ↑ Oklahoma Legislature, "SB 1027 Bill Summary," accessed May 25, 2025
- ↑ Oklahoma State Legislature, "Senate Bill 518," accessed April 30, 2024
- ↑ Oklahoma State Legislature, "House Bill 1105," accessed June 5, 2024
- ↑ Oklahoma State Legislature, "House Bill 1445," accessed June 21, 2023
- ↑ Oklahoma State Legislature, "Senate Bill 947," accessed June 21, 2023
- ↑ Oklahoma State Legislature, "House Bill 2871," accessed June 22, 2023
- ↑ Oklahoma State Legislature, "House Bill 3826," accessed June 22, 2023
- ↑ Oklahoma State Legislature, "House Bill 2119," accessed June 27, 2023
- ↑ Oklahoma State Legislature, "House Bill 2827," accessed June 28, 2023
