Bullard bill to add safeguards, transparency to initiative petition process clears committee

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday passed legislation from Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, to put guardrails on Oklahoma’s initiative petition process.

Senate Bill 1027 aims to bring greater transparency to the initiative petition process by requiring paid signature gatherers to disclose who is paying them and stipulating that only Oklahoma residents or entities can pay people to collect signatures for an initiative petition. The legislation also aims to simplify the language of petition gists so that they are easier for the general public to understand, while also ensuring that voters in many counties have a say in determining whether a petition qualifies for the ballot.

Bullard said one of the key changes in his bill requires initiative petition campaigns to collect signatures from a variety of counties, instead of just concentrating their efforts in highly populated areas.

SB 1027 establishes that no more than 10% of the total number of signatures to get an initiative petition on the ballot come from any one county with more than 400,000 residents. Meanwhile, no more than 4% of signatures shall come from any one county with a population of less than 400,000. Bullard said this change will require campaigns to collect signatures from a minimum of around 20 counties, which will give rural Oklahomans a greater say in whether an initiative petition qualifies for the ballot.

“These are much-needed changes to protect Oklahoma’s initiative petition process from out-of-state interest groups who want to change our state laws and constitution,” Bullard said. “We need clear transparency and common-sense guardrails on how initiative petition campaigns collect signatures, who’s behind them and who’s funding them.

“This bill also ensures that more Oklahomans have a say in initiative petitions by requiring signatures from multiple counties, rather than just collecting signatures in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas. If Oklahomans are going to have to pay with their tax dollars and their freedoms for what someone puts on the ballot, then more residents deserve to have a voice in the process.”

The bill also requires gists to clearly state whether an initiative petition will have a fiscal impact and adds that signature gatherers must be registered to vote in Oklahoma.

SB 1027 passed the committee in a 7-2 vote. The bill is now eligible for consideration by the full Senate.

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For more information, contact: Sen. David Bullard at (405) 521-5586 or David. Bullard@oksenate.gov