Sen. Dahm files election integrity bills

OKLAHOMA CITY – On Thursday, Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, filed four election integrity bills.

“Elections are the easiest vehicle for citizens to express their will,” Dahm said. “That means that election integrity is of the utmost importance. There are questions and concerns with the integrity of the November 2020 elections. These bills seek to alleviate those questions and concerns.”

Senate Bill 1820 would require every notary to submit a copy of their receipt book for the 90 days preceding the election. Copies must be provided within 30 days of the election.

“Mail-in ballots were a source of contention in the 2020 election,” Dahm said. “In addition, the parameters that we have in place to prevent fraud are sorely lacking. This bill would create an easy way to verify those mail-in or absentee ballots.”

SB 1805 would create a system of perforated ballots that would allow voters to tear off a numbered section of their ballot to review online later. All ballots would be accessible to the public, but each individual would only be able to match their identifier with their ballot.

 “This enables citizens to validate that their ballot was counted exactly as they filled it out,” Dahm said. “Additionally, it provides much-needed transparency to the election process. Anyone can access the ballots online to verify that official vote tallies match the published ballots.”

SB 1690 calls for a forensic audit of the 2020 election. Nine counties would be audited: the three most populous counties, the three least populous counties, and three randomly selected counties.

“There are serious doubts about the integrity of the 2020 election,” Dahm said. “This audit will verify those results to ensure our electoral process has not been undermined. Elections should be vetted to the highest degree to ensure that the will of the people is not distorted.”

SB 1748 would specify valid reasons that individuals may ask for an absentee ballot.

“Election laws in Oklahoma should make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat,” Dahm said. “And absentee ballots should be limited to those individuals who physically cannot make it to the ballot box.”

If passed, each bill would be implemented prior to the November 2022 elections.

“The citizens of Oklahoma deserve to express their undistorted will at the ballot box,” Dahm said. “These bills will ensure that happens by making Oklahoma elections cleaner and less conducive to fraud.”

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For more information, contact:  Sen. Nathan Dahm, 405-521-5551 or Nathan.Dahm@oksenate.gov.