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Party labels in Oklahoma school board elections
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| Oklahoma overview: • Election dates: Off-cycle |
| Key policies: • Election dates and timing • Party labels on the ballot |
| Key terms • On-cycle elections • Off-cycle elections • Off-year elections • Off-date elections • Party labels • Partisan elections • Nonpartisan elections |
School board elections in Oklahoma are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure
There were 509 public school districts in Oklahoma with a total of 2,366 school board member seats as of 2022. Those school districts operated a total of 1,717 schools serving 657,388 students.
Oklahoma is one of 41 states with state laws providing for nonpartisan school board elections.
The information in this page was last updated in 2022. Please email editor@ballotpedia.org with any updates, corrections, exceptions, or improvements.
Oklahoma state law governing party labels on the ballot for school board elections
School board elections in Oklahoma are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure
Oklahoma State Statute provides procedures for school board elections according to the state's nonpartisan election process. School board candidates file as nonpartisan and do not appear on the ballot with any party affiliation designated. School board candidates appear together on the same ballot for both the nonpartisan primary election if held and the nonpartisan general election.
Examples of how school board candidates appear on the ballot in Oklahoma
Below is an excerpt from candidate filings in Oklahoma showing nonpartisan school board candidate filings and partisan candidate filings:
How does Oklahoma compare to other states?
Across the country, there are 13,187 public school districts governed by a total of 83,183 school board members. They are elected directly by voters except for a small handful of exceptions who are appointed.
As of July 2025, over 85% of school boards are elected without any party labels on the ballot identifying the candidates' affiliation with a political party. State laws in five states containing 1,169 school districts (9%) provide for party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In five states containing 554 districts (4%), state laws effectively provide for both the option of including or not including party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In the remaining states with elected local school board members, state law provides for school board elections without the inclusion of party labels on the ballot.
Elections in which party labels are included on the ballot are referred to as partisan elections. Elections in which party labels are not included on the ballot are referred to as nonpartisan elections.
The state laws of 40 states containing 11,472 school districts provide for school board elections without party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (nonpartisan elections).
State laws of five states provide for school board elections with party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (partisan elections):
State laws of five states containing 554 school districts effectively provide both options depending on the district. The details and the number of districts that fall in each category vary among the states. Those five states are:
See also
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School board election rules: |
School board election coverage: |
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Footnotes
