Oklahoma Removes Hundreds of Thousands Of Ineligible Voters From Rolls
Republican governors and state legislatures are actively working to enhance election security as the 2024 presidential election approaches.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt announced on Wednesday that over 450,000 ineligible voters have been removed from the state’s voter rolls since 2021 as part of routine voter maintenance. This process targeted voters who have left the state, those who have passed away, and certain convicted felons.
“Voting is our most sacred duty as Americans— and every Oklahoman wants to know their vote is securely cast and properly counted,” Governor Stitt said in a press release. He praised the State Election Board and the Secretary of State’s office for their efforts in ensuring election integrity.
Secretary of State Josh Cockroft emphasized the state’s commitment to secure and accurate elections. “We’ve aggressively pursued policies to ensure voting is secure and accurate, and we’re innovating to protect our elections from emerging technology like AI,” Cockroft said.
In 2023, Governor Stitt formed the Campaign Finance and Election Threats Task Force, which focused on reviewing the election process, scrutinizing foreign investments in campaigns, and ensuring election safety. The task force has recommended mandatory audits after each election and a ban on ranked-choice voting.
“Oklahoma has a long tradition of doing elections right,” said Secretary of the State Election Board Paul Ziriax, citing consistent recounts and post-election audits that have proven the accuracy of the state's voting system.
In a related victory for election security advocates, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision regarding mail-in ballots. On Friday, the court ruled in a 4-3 decision that mail-in ballots with incorrect dates or missing dates on the exterior envelope cannot be counted. This ruling, based on procedural grounds, was seen as a significant win for those advocating for election integrity.
The decision overturns a previous ruling from the Commonwealth Court, which had paused the enforcement of the date requirement. Now, with the Supreme Court’s ruling, thousands of potentially misdated ballots could be discarded in the upcoming election, especially in a key swing state like Pennsylvania, where more Democrats vote by mail than Republicans.
Republican groups welcomed the decision, with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley calling it “a major victory for election integrity that will protect commonsense mail ballot safeguards.” The ruling is also seen as a boost for former President Donald Trump, who narrowly lost Pennsylvania to Joe Biden in 2020.
On the other side, attorneys representing the left-leaning organizations that filed the lawsuit expressed concern. Mimi McKenzie, legal director of the Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia, warned that “thousands of voters are at risk of having their ballots rejected in November for making a meaningless mistake,” and urged voters to carefully follow mail-in ballot instructions to avoid rejection due to minor errors.
The court’s ruling saw two Democratic appointees join their Republican counterparts in the decision.