Oklahoma is only halfway there on clean elections
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Oklahoma approved putting voter ID requirements in the Oklahoma Constitution on August 25. This is a positive step to enhance election integrity, but other easy steps can be taken to make elections more secure. The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is suing Oklahoma to enforce federal election transparency obligations.
Transparency plus voter ID are the two policies that best secure election integrity. Oklahoma is only halfway there.
PILF previously requested a copy of Oklahoma’s voter roll. The Oklahoma Election Board refused because Oklahoma law prohibits out-of-state residents or organizations from purchasing the voter roll.
When PILF’s request was refused, PILF brought a federal lawsuit against the Secretary of the State Election Board for Oklahoma, Paul Ziriax, for violating Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), 52 U.S.C. § 20507(i), and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Oklahoma’s state residency requirement violates federal law, as the NVRA mandates voter roll transparency in its Public Disclosure Provision. This gives the public the right to inspect any state’s voter roll, regardless of whether they live in that state.
PILF routinely helps states keep clean voter rolls by finding duplicate registrations and registrants who are no longer alive. PILF has access to data that allows it to identify deceased registrants with similar or greater effectiveness than even the states possess. PILF provides findings to the states to allow them to take appropriate action to clean rolls.
“Clean voter rolls are a cornerstone of clean elections,” said J. Christian Adams, President of the Public Interest Legal Foundation. “Congress decided that voter roll transparency is essential to maintain the integrity of our elections. Oklahoma laws that limit transparency hurt election integrity.”
Notably, PILF has fought and won access to the voter roll in Maine, Maryland, and Illinois. In 2024, the First Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously sided with PILF that Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows had to hand over the state’s voter rolls without use restrictions. These cases have established precedent that under the NVRA voter rolls are public records.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is the nation’s only public interest law firm dedicated wholly to election integrity.
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