(Oklahoma City) – More candidates filed for state, federal and legislative offices in the three-day 2016 candidate filing period that ended Friday than in any presidential year in recent history, Oklahoma State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said.
A total of 417 candidates filed for office this week, a significant increase from the 275 candidates who filed in 2012 and the 296 who filed in 2008. The highest number of candidates to file in a presidential year in recent history was in 2004, when 412 candidates filed. That was also the first year legislators were subject to term limits, which resulted in an unusually high number of offices with no incumbent candidate.
“We had record turnout in the Presidential Preferential Primary last month and a record number of candidate filings this month,” Ziriax said. “It’s exciting to see so much interest and enthusiasm in this election cycle.”
Interest was especially high in State Senate races, with 99 candidates filing for the 25 State Senate seats on the ballot. All 101 State House of Representative seats are on the ballot, with 285 candidates filing for those offices. Seven candidates filed for the U.S. Senate seat up for election this year. The state’s five U.S. House of Representative seats attracted 24 candidates. Two candidates filed for the single Corporation Commission seat on this year’s ballot.
Candidate withdrawals and contests of candidacy must be filed by 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 19. The Oklahoma State Election Board will hear contests of candidacy April 25.
With the filing period over, Oklahoma State Election Board staff members will begin preparing, testing and printing up to 2.5 million ballots for the June 28 Primary Election.
Important dates to remember for the June 28 Primary include:
- June 3, the deadline to register to vote.
- June 22, the last day to request an absentee ballot.
- Early voting will be June 23-25.
For more information about 2016 elections, or to see a full list of the candidates who filed for office, visit: http://elections.ok.gov.
[Blogger's note: it looks like 17 candidates filed with the newly-formed Oklahoma Libertarian Party, 20 were Independents, 157 were Democrats, and 223 were Republicans]
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