Oklahoma State Question 836, Top-Two Primary Elections Initiative (2026)
| Oklahoma State Question 836 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Primary election systems |
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| Status Signatures submitted |
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| Type Initiated constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Oklahoma State Question 836, the Top-Two Primary Elections Initiative, may appear on the ballot in Oklahoma as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.
Overview
What would the initiative do?
- See also: Text of measure
The initiative would establish a top-two primary system for statewide and county offices, district attorney, state legislators, and congressional candidates. Candidates for an office would appear on one ballot regardless of their party affiliation. The top-two vote-getters would move forward to the general election.[1]
What states use top-two primaries?
- See also: Top-two primaries in use by state
As of 2025, three states used a top-two primary for some elections: California, Nebraska, and Washington. In 2004, Washington became the first state to adopt a top-two primary system for congressional and state-level elections after the passage of Washington Initiative 872. California adopted a top-two primary system in 2010 after the passage of California Proposition 14. In Nebraska, a top-two primary system was utilized for state legislative elections. Because Nebraska's state legislature was nonpartisan, partisan affiliation labels were not listed alongside the names of state legislative candidates.
As of 2025, Alaska used a top-four primary, which is a variation of the top-two primary, for state executive, state legislative, and congressional elections. Voters approved this in 2020 with Ballot Measure 2. The initiative also established ranked-choice voting for general elections for the aforementioned offices and the presidency. Louisiana also used a variation of a top-two primary system in some elections.
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Media editorials
- See also: 2026 ballot measure media endorsements
Support
The following media editorial board published an editorial supporting the ballot measure:
Opposition
Ballotpedia has not located media editorial boards in opposition to the ballot measure. You can share media editorial endorsements, along with source links for this information, with us at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Background
Top-two primary
- See also: Top-two primary
A top-two primary is a type of primary election where all candidates are listed on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliations. Consequently, it is possible for two candidates belonging to the same political party to win in a top-two primary and face off in the general election.[2][3]
Top-two primaries should not be confused with blanket primaries. In both types of primaries, all candidates are listed on the same ballot and voters choose one candidate per office regardless of party affiliation. However, in a blanket primary, the top vote-getter from each party advances to the general election. This ensures that candidates from the same party will not compete against each other in the general election.[4][5]
Top-two primaries in the United States
The map below identifies states that utilize top-two primary elections or a variation. Hover over a state for additional details.
As of September 2025, three states used a top-two primary for some elections:
- California adopted a top-two primary system in 2010 after the passage of California Proposition 14.
- In Nebraska, a top-two primary system is utilized for state legislative elections. Because Nebraska's state legislature is nonpartisan, partisan affiliation labels are not listed alongside the names of state legislative candidates.
- In 2004, Washington became the first state to adopt a top-two primary system for congressional and state-level elections after the passage of Washington Initiative 872.
Two additional states used some variation of top-two primaries for their elections:
- In 2020, Alaska voters approved Alaska Ballot Measure 2 establishing a top-four primary, which is a variation of the top-two primary, for state executive, state legislative, and congressional elections. The initiative also established ranked-choice voting for general elections for the aforementioned offices and the presidency.
- In Louisiana, rules to participate in primaries vary by the office up for election. For congress, justice of the supreme court, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Public Service Commission, the state uses a semi-closed primary. In these primaries, only unaffiliated voters and voters registered with a party may vote in that party's primary. For all other statewide offices—including state senator and representative—Louisiana uses the majority-vote system. In this system, if a candidate receives a majority of the votes cast for an office, they win the election outright. If, however, no candidate reaches that threshold, a second round of voting is held between the top two vote-getters. Any registered voter can participate in both the first-round and second-round elections.[6][7]
Path to the ballot
Process in Oklahoma
An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.
In Oklahoma, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 15% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2026 ballot:
- Signatures: 172,993 valid signatures
- Deadline: Each initiative has its own deadline that is 90 days after it was approved to circulate.
Stages of this ballot initiative
The following is the timeline of the initiative:[9]
- January 3, 2025: The initiative was filed with the Oklahoma secretary of state by Robert G. McCampbell and Melanie Wilson Rughani.
- January 9, 2025: The secretary of state published the initiative and set the 90-day challenge period to run from January 9 through April 9, 2025.
- April 9, 2025: The Oklahoma Republican Party filed a petition with the court system claiming the initiative is unconstitutional (Supreme Court Case No. O-123007), and the initiative was placed on hold.[10]
- June 11, 2025: Supporters of the initiative filed a lawsuit with the Oklahoma State Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 1027, which was signed into law in May of 2025. The law prohibits initiative petitions from gathering more signatures than 11.5% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election from any one county. Dr. Ken Setter, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said, "Politicians should not be attempting to stop this measure by sabotaging it with unconstitutional laws. They should let the voters decide."[11]
- July 8, 2025: Two Oklahoma citizens filed a separate legal challenge to SB 1027, which they say unconstitutionally targets State Question 836. Their argument is that SB 1027 violates the constitution by applying retroactively to SQ 836 which violates Article V, Section 54 of the state constitution. That section prohibits laws from altering proceedings already in motion.[12]
- September 16, 2025: The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the Oklahoma Republican Party's challenge of the initiative was premature. They also found that the summary of the initiative was not misleading and that the initiative would not place a severe burden on associational rights.[13]
- October 8, 2025: The secretary of state announced that petitioners could begin gathering signatures in support of the petition on October 29, and that the deadline for signatures would be January 26, 2026. They also announced that the laws and policies in place in November of 2024 would apply to the signature gathering process, meaning the changes included in SB 1027 would not apply.
- January 26, 2026: The secretary of state announced that supporters of the initiative submitted 42 boxes of petition pamphlets with signatures. Supporters of Vote Yes 836 announced they had submitted more than 200,000 signatures.[14]
- January 28, 2026: The secretary of state began the process of certifying each signature in support of the measure.
| Lawsuit overview | |
| Issue: Does the ballot initiative violate the U.S. Constitution? | |
| Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court | |
| Ruling: The plaintiffs failed to prove that the initiative is unconstitutional or that the summary is misleading. As such, the initiative should be cleared to gather signatures. | |
| Plaintiff(s): Oklahoma Republican Party | Defendant(s): Kenneth Setter, Yvonne Galvan, and Anthony Stobbe |
| Plaintiff argument: The ballot initiative strips political parties of their ability to associate with candidates they choose, which violates the U.S. Constitution. | Defendant argument: A top-two primary system does not infringe on the rights of smaller political parties as it does not change how political parties can support candidates. |
Source: Oklahoma Voice
On April 9, 2025, the Oklahoma Republican Party filed a petition with the Oklahoma Supreme Court under the claim that the initiative petition violates the United States Constitution. The process of approving the initiative to gather signatures was placed on an administrative hold.[10]
On June 24, oral arguments were held in court for the lawsuit. Ben Sisney, the representative of the Oklahoma Republican Party stated, "IP 448 unconstitutionally burdens petitions, First Amendment associational rights, it lacks a compelling justification, it’s not narrowly tailored, it’s not the least restrictive means, and we respectfully ask this court to strike it from the ballot."[15] He also said that the US. Supreme Court has a precedent of protecting the associational rights of political parties.[16] In contrast, Robert McCampbell, who represents the defendants, stated that the U.S. Supreme Court has a precedent of stating that a top-two primary system does not infringe on the rights of smaller political parties. He cited their 2008 decision in Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party.[15]
Anthony Stobbe, a petitioner of the initiative, gave a statement on the court proceedings. He said, "Let the people vote. That’s all we’re asking. The only reason party insiders are trying to block SQ 836 in court is because they know it has real momentum. Oklahomans are ready for a system where every voter gets to vote in every election, and the political elites are clearly scared of that.”[16]
On September 16, 2025, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the Oklahoma Republican Party's challenge of the initiative was premature, as any challenge of the ballot initiative's title should take place after the initiative has gathered signatures. They also found that the summary of the initiative was not misleading and that the initiative would not place a severe burden on associational rights, thus it is not unconstitutional.[17]
Tony Stobbe, a sponsor of the initiative, responded to the ruling, saying, "Today’s ruling is a victory for Oklahoma voters and a defeat for the insiders and power-brokers who benefit from today’s closed, exclusionary primary process."[18]
Ronda Vuillemont-Smith, one of the parties challenging the measure, stated, "When you challenge a case like that, you know that there’s a chance, and after sitting through the hearing, I really didn’t think that it was going to come down in our favor. But what it did do is it did postpone their collecting of signatures."[18]
See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Oklahoma Secretary of State, "State Question 836 full text," accessed January 9, 2024
- ↑ Taegan Goddard's Political Dictionary, "Jungle primary," accessed June 12, 2023
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed June 12, 2023
- ↑ USLegal.com, "Blanket Primary Law and Legal Definition," accessed June 12, 2023
- ↑ Encyclopedia Brittanica, "Primary Election," accessed June 12, 2023
- ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 18:410.3," accessed November 12, 2025
- ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 18:401," accessed November 12, 2025
- ↑ A 60% supermajority vote was needed to pass the amendment.
- ↑ Oklahoma Secretary of State, "State Questions," accessed November 27, 2024
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Fox 25, "Oklahoma GOP fights to keep closed primaries, files challenge in Oklahoma Supreme Court," accessed May 15, 2025
- ↑ The Oklahoman, "Open primary proponents challenge Oklahoma law capping initiative petition signatures," accessed June 13, 2025
- ↑ Independent Voter News, "Lawsuit Slams Oklahoma Law as ‘Unconstitutional Sabotage’ of Open Primaries," accessed July 9, 2025
- ↑ Oklahoma Voice, "Open primary ballot plan OK’d by Oklahoma Supreme Court," accessed September 17, 2025
- ↑ KOCO News 5, "Supporters of open primary elections in Oklahoma submit signatures for ballot measure," accessed January 27, 2026
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Journal Record, "Oklahoma Supreme Court hears open primary elections challenge," accessed June 25, 2025
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Oklahoma Voice, "Oklahoma Supreme Court hears challenge to open primary initiative petition," accessed June 25, 2025
- ↑ OCSN Dockets, "No. O-123007," accessed September 17, 2025
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Free Press OK, "Oklahoma Supreme Court clears petition for open primaries," accessed September 18, 2025
