FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: State Rep. Colby Schwartz

Capitol: (405) 557-7352

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 11, 2009) – County election workers would have more time to count every ballot if legislation passed by a House committee today becomes law.

House Bill 1568, by state Rep. Colby Schwartz, would move early voting to Thursday, Friday and Saturday before an election, which would give county workers a full two days before the election on Tuesday to county ballots.

The legislation keeps early voting at three full days, including one weekend day for those who must work during the week. But, currently early voting occurs on Monday prior to the election on Tuesday, which makes it difficult to count all the early voting ballots in a timely manner, Schwartz said.

“I have heard many accounts of county election boards struggling to process all of the in-person absentee ballots and I want all Oklahomans to feel confident that their vote will be counted in a timely fashion,” said Schwartz, R-Yukon. “This small change would still give Oklahomans plenty of time to vote early, but would alleviate the stress on county workers as they tally the election results.”

The bill also modifies the procedure for handling an absolute vote tie in an election. If passed, the legislation would break the tie by declaring the candidate who won the majority of precincts as the election winner.  

“Right now, an absolute tie is broken by literally picking the name of the candidate out of a hat,” Schwartz said. “That is no way to decide an election and ensure that the will of the people is carried out. My legislation would create a rational way to deal with a tie so the candidate who carried the majority of precincts prevails instead of leaving the results up to chance and not the voters.”

Schwartz added that his election reforms compliment legislation that would require voter identification at the polls.

“The more we can do to encourage Oklahomans to vote while strengthening the integrity of the system, the better,” said Schwartz. “Oklahomans must know their vote counts, and these bills will help build confidence in our democratic process.

House Bill 1568 passed the House Rules Committee today and will now proceed to the full House for a vote

“Voting is a very important right and one that should be monitored to ensure every vote is counted correctly,” Schwartz said.

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