What to know: Initiative petition bill change advancing

A bill that would limit the number of Oklahomans who can sign an initiative petition to get a question on the ballot is headed back to the State Senate with some changes from the House.

The House Substitute of Senate Bill 1027 would set a maximum number of signatures from any one county based on the number of votes cast in the most recent general election for governor. Currently, there are no restrictions about where in Oklahoma those signatures come from, only that they must be registered voters in Oklahoma.

SB 1027 also changes the requirements for gathering signatures, what needs to be on the petition, and who can change it. 

What is an initiative petition? 

An initiative petition allows voters to have a direct say in democracy. Voters can use initiative petitions to write state statutes and constitutional amendments, and if they get enough signatures, they can get the measure onto the ballot as a state question.

Recent initiative petitions that have gone to a statewide vote include SQ 788, which led to the legalization of medical marijuana in Oklahoma, and SQ 780, which reclassified simple drug possession as a misdemeanor. 

What does Senate Bill 1027 do?

There are several aspects to Senate Bill 1027, including requirements for what is on the petition and how signatures are gathered.  

Language of Petition

The measure adds new requirements surrounding the language of the propositions’ summary, known as the ‘gist.’ It states the gist must be written in basic words, not contain any jargon used by a particular profession or trade and not contain euphemisms. It also requires the petition to state that a copy of the petition and signatures will be public record. 

The bill would require each petition to indicate whether passing the measure would require state funding and where that money could come from.

Gathering Signatures

The measure would ban anyone who does not live or work in Oklahoma from paying anyone to collect signatures. It would also require anyone who is being paid to collect signatures to have a sign disclosing who is paying them.

It would also ban anyone who doesn't live or work in Oklahoma from paying for signature collections. Anyone who collects signatures would have to be a registered Oklahoma voter and have a sign saying if anyone was paying them to collect signatures, and who it was.

The measure would keep in place the 90-day window for signature collection.

Signature requirements

The new version of the bill created a cap on the number of signatures that can come from any one county based on the number of votes in the most recent general election for Governor. 

Petitions to change state statute would limit the number of signatures allowed to 11.5% of the votes cast. Petitions to change the constitution would be limited to 20.8% of votes cast. 

Review Process

SB1027 would give the Secretary of State, a political position appointed by the governor, the ability to remove the gist from any petition that violates requirements. That task is currently assigned to the Oklahoma Attorney General and the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

What changed from the first version of SB1027?

The original version of Senate Bill 1027 limited the number of signatures based on county population. That version would have limited the number of signatures that could come from each county with more than 400,000 people, which is only Tulsa and Oklahoma counties, at 10% of the total number of signatures needed. Oklahoma’s other 75 counties would be limited to 4% of the signatures needed.

This version of the bill was changed in committee by the House and did not get heard on the House floor. The amended version is currently making its way through the legislature. 

Were there any other proposed changes?

Oklahoma City Democrats Rep. Andy Fugate and Mickey Dollens both submitted amendments. Fugate’s amendment would have put the measure on the ballot for voters to decide. Dollen’s amendment would have extended the signature collection window from 90 days to 180 days. 

Both amendments were tabled. 

What’s next? 

SB1027 is heading back to the state senate. Because the bill was amended in the House, the bill’s original chamber will get a chance to vote on those changes. If it passes out of the Senate without any other changes, it will head to the governor.