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  • Lynn Armstrong votes at the Rogers County Election Board in July's Primary Elections. PROGRESS FILE PHOTO

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August 26, 2010

Oklahomans becoming more ‘Independent’ minded

Joy Hampton Staff Writer

CLAREMORE — Historically, Oklahoma was a Democratic state and most Rogers County voters were Democrats. That has been shifting in recent years.

Statewide, Democrats are still the plurality, if not the majority. In Rogers County, registered Republicans now outnumber Democrats. More Independent voters are registered as well.

“There are more Independents but the big shift is toward Republican from Democratic,” said Rogers County Election Board Secretary Rebecca Dealy.

In July, 2000 Rogers county had 23,048 voters registered as Democrats, 15,249 registered as Republicans, and 3,332 registered as Independent. Another handful equated to two Libertarian and one Reform voters for a total of 41,632 registered voters in the county according to State Election Board archives available online.

As of January 2010 the numbers of registered Democrats has decreased to 21,935 even though the total number of registered voters is up almost 22-percent.

In 2010, registered Republicans in Rogers County outnumber Democrats. There are 23,066 Republicans and 5,666 Independents for a total of 50,667 county residents who are registered to vote. Libertarian and Reform voters are not counted separately, but are currently included in the numbers of Independent voters.

“There are only two recognized parties right now in the state of Oklahoma said State Election Board Secretary Paul Xiriax “All unaffiliated voters are listed as Independents.”

Oklahoma has a closed primary system. Only voters who are registered members of a recognized political party may vote for the party's candidates in primary and runoff primary elections.

“The Independent party is not a recognized party by the state of Oklahoma,” said Dealy. “We don’t have open primaries so you can only run as a Republican or a Democrat.”

Independents may vote on several issues in primaries, however such as nonpartisan judicial offices, state questions and county questions often are included in primary elections. All registered voters, including Independents, are entitled to receive those ballots.

At general elections, all voters receive the same ballot and may vote for any candidate or question on the ballot.

“Everyone can vote on every issue that will be on the ballot in the General Election,” said Xiriax. “The National voter registration act, commonly called the ‘Motor Voter Act’ allows anyone to vote where they register to vote. In Oklahoma that means at a tag agency.”

The ability to register at tag agencies appears to be impacting political party affiliation, or the lack thereof.

“Since the Motor Voter law took effect in the 1990’s we’ve seen a significant growth in the numbers of voters who are registering as Independents or no party both in Oklahoma and across the country,” said Xiriax.

The most current registration statistics for Rogers County show 21,952 Democrats, 23,609 Republicans, and 5,888 Independent voters for a total of 51,449 registered voters.

The last day to register to vote in the Nov. 2 General Election is Oct. 8. Persons must be U.S. citizens, residents of Oklahoma and at least 18 years old to apply to registered. Persons who have never been registered to vote or who are not currently registered in the county of their residence and persons who are registered but who need to change their registration information may apply by filling out and mailing an Oklahoma Voter Registration Application form in time for it to be postmarked no later than midnight Oct. 8.

Applications postmarked after that time still will be accepted and processed, but the applications will not be approved until after Nov. 2.

Oklahoma Voter Registration Application forms can be downloaded at the state web site www.elections.state.ok.us and are available at County Election Board offices, most post offices, tag agencies and public libraries. 

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