IN RE INITIATIVE PETITION NO. 448, STATE QUESTION NO. 836; THE OKLAHOMA REPUBLICAN PARTY v. SETTER
Syllabus
¶ 0 This is an original proceeding to determine the legal sufficiency of Initiative Petition No. 448, State Question No. 836 (hereinafter "IP 448"). IP 448 seeks to repeal Article III, Section 3 of the Oklahoma Constitution that currently governs Oklahoma's primary elections and to create a new primary system in its place under the proposed constitutional amendment that creates Article III-A in the Oklahoma Constitution. According to the Proponents/Respondents' gist, IP 448 "would establish an 'open primary' system" in which "all candidates for a covered office would appear on the same primary ballot without regard to party affiliation, and any qualified voter could vote for any candidate without regard to party affiliation. A voter in the open primary could vote for only one candidate per covered office. The two candidates receiving the most votes in the open primary would advance to the general election, without regard to party affiliation and without regard to whether the candidates have been nominated or endorsed by any political party." Pet'rs' App. at p.A5, Gist. The gist goes on to provide that "[i]n all elections for covered offices, . . . candidates' political party registration or independent status as of the date of candidate filing would appear on the ballot next to their names[,] and the ballot would state that a candidate's indicated party registration does not imply the candidate is nominated or endorsed by the political party." Id. The Protestants/Petitioners filed this protest pursuant to 34 O.S.2024, § 8 (B) challenging the facial constitutionality of IP 448 as violating the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment right of association and challenging both the gist and ballot title as misleading. Upon our review, we hold IP 448 is legally sufficient. It survives Petitioners/Protestants' facial constitutional challenge in light of applicable U.S. Supreme Court precedents. Its gist is not misleading, and the challenge to its ballot title is premature.
Opinion Excerpt
OSCN Found Document:IN RE INITIATIVE PETITION NO. 448, STATE QUESTION NO. 836; THE OKLAHOMA REPUBLICAN PARTY, et. al. v. SETTER, et. al. Previous Case Top Of Index This Point in Index Citationize