State Election Board gives tips, reminders for August 27 runoff election

State Election Board Offers Tips and Reminders Ahead of August 27 Runoff Primary

(Oklahoma City) – Voters in 53 counties head to the polls Tuesday for the August 27 Runoff Primary Election and several nonpartisan elections. The State Election Board offers these tips and reminders to Oklahoma voters ahead of the election.

ELECTION DAY VOTING

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. Lines at the polls are typically longest before work, during the lunch hour, and after work. All eligible voters in line by 7 p.m. will be permitted to vote.

CLOSED PRIMARIES

Voters are reminded that Oklahoma has modified, closed primaries.

In order to participate in a party’s Runoff Primary election, you must be a registered voter of that party. However, the Democratic Party has chosen to open its primaries to Independent voters this year, while the Republican and Libertarian parties have chosen to keep their primaries closed. Independent voters who wish to participate in the Democratic Runoff Primary, must request a Democratic Runoff Primary ballot from election workers. Independent voters may not vote a Republican Runoff Primary ballot or Libertarian Runoff Primary ballot.

Under Oklahoma law, a Runoff Primary election is held if no candidate receives a majority of the votes in a Primary election.

As a reminder, there are nonpartisan elections on the ballot in some precincts. All voters, regardless of party affiliation, may participate in nonpartisan elections. You do not need to participate in a primary election to vote a nonpartisan ballot.

Not every voter in every precinct will have an election on August 27.  

VERIFY POLLING PLACE

All voters should verify their polling place before heading to the polls. Voters can verify their polling place using the OK Voter Portal or by contacting their County Election Board or the State Election Board. The State Election Board reminds voters that you must vote at your assigned polling place.

BE PREPARED

Study the candidates and issues before going to the polls. View your sample ballot using the OK Voter Portal. You can also use the portal to find your polling place and track the status of your absentee ballot. The election list is available on the State Election Board website. 

PROOF OF IDENTITY

Oklahoma law requires every voter who votes in person to show proof of identity before receiving a ballot.

There are three ways to show proof of identity under the law (only one proof of identity is required):

• Show a valid photo ID issued by the federal, state, or tribal government; or
• Show the free voter identification card issued to every voter by their County Election Board; or
• Sign an affidavit and vote a provisional ballot. (If the information on the affidavit matches official voter registration records, the ballot will be counted after Election Day.) 

ACCESSIBILITY

Some voters may need assistance to vote because they are blind or visually disabled, physically disabled or infirmed, or illiterate.  Such individuals may request to have an assistant or vote privately and independently using the ATI device attached to the voting device. Those who require assistance should talk to their precinct official or contact their County Election Board directly for instructions.

VOTER HISTORY

Voters are also reminded that voter history for each individual is manually entered into the OK Voter Portal following the election and may take several weeks to be recorded.

Voters may verify their voter history credit in the OK Voter Portal. Voters are reminded that voter history indicates only that a voter participated in an election. It does not indicate how the individual voted.

ELECTION RESULTS

Election results will be available on the State Election Board website after the polls close at 7 p.m. on election night. The State Election Board recommends setting results on “auto-refresh.”

BEWARE OF MISINFORMATION/DISINFORMATION

During election time, misinformation and disinformation can run rampant. Voters are asked to be wary of information that seeks to promote false claims of fraud, voter suppression and/or other problems. However, if you experience an issue or believe an election or voting crime has been committed, your first action should be to notify your precinct officials and contact your County Election Board while the incident is in progress. County Election Board officials will take immediate action to resolve the issue and/or contact local law enforcement.

State and county election officials should always be your trusted sources for information. Contact information for the State Election Board and all 77 county election boards can be found on the State Election Board website.