Young slams bill making changes to the absentee voting process

State Senator George Young, D-Oklahoma City, released the following statement after the passage of House Bill 3364 on Thursday.

“This piece of legislation was explained as to helping our electoral process, specifically dealing with absentee voting.

“I was personally interested in this legislation because I sign up often for absentee voting, utilize this convenient method and assist others in completing this process. For the last 10 years, I’ve requested an absentee ballot and have had no problems in any way, shape or form in completing this request and receiving my ballot.

“However, I was struck by this new piece of legislation because it seems to make the absentee ballot process so much more complicated. The process this bill will create made me a bit concerned, and I can only imagine trying to describe the statutory changes to senior members at church. It’s truly hard to believe these changes would not hinder the ability to request an absentee ballot.  

“There were no large or small-scale irregularities in absentee voting in our state during the last election cycle, so my only conclusion is this is part of the ‘psychological warfare’ to suppress voting. As a state, we rate among the worse in the areas of registering and voting. Why are we continuing to make the performance of our constitutional rights and obligations more difficult?

“This is voter suppression at its finest.”