Time Running Out To Register To Vote

The clock is ticking. If you’re not registered to vote and you want to vote in the June 30 primaries, you have until Friday to register.

“That means you have to submit your voter registration application or have it postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service no later than this Friday June 5th,” said Paul Ziriax, secretary of the Oklahoma State Election Board.

And this is an important election. On the ballot, State Question 802 which, if it passes, means Medicaid expansion in Oklahoma. 

Republicans, democrats and independents can vote on the seat held by Senator Jim Inhofe. Voters in 12 state Senate districts and 38 House of Representatives districts will have a decision to make in the primaries and there are a lot of local offices up for grabs statewide.  

“If you want to get a paper application the old-fashioned way you can get those at your county election board, or at a tag agency, library, post offices typically have those,” Ziriax said.

You can also fill out the paperwork online and mail it in or bring it in to your county election board.You are required to supply your Oklahoma driver’s license number or the last four digits of your social security number when you register. 

You can vote absentee, or when you go to the polls you can show a state, tribal or federal ID or free voter ID card. And because of COVID-19 you’ll notice some changes if you vote in person.

“We are going to have social distancing protocols in place, we’ll have disinfection protocols in place to make sure that equipment and voting areas are clean. Our poll workers will have plenty of personal protective equipment,” Ziriax said.

You’ll also be asked to wear a mask if you vote in person.

Finally, during the past few days of protesting we have seen calls for folks to get out and vote, but that doesn’t seem to have had an impact on the numbers of people registering.

“At this point I don’t think we’ve seen anything out of the ordinary,” Ziriax said.

To visit the State Election Board website, click here.