It's bad for Oklahoma that nearly 70% of the legislative races have already been decided. Several reasons have led to this lopsided representation, and most are solvable.
This is a flip from November 2018 when about 75% of Oklahoma House and Senate races had a candidate from both parties, according to a story from Oklahoma Watch. That was largely fueled by the spring teacher walkout that motivated more people to run for office and get involved politically.
Then, it went downhill. By 2020, about 60% of legislative seats were uncontested. Now, Oklahoma is considered one of the least competitive states for legislative races, according to data from Ballotpedia. The state had the 10th lowest voter turnout in the 2018 midterm election and the nation's lowest in the 2020 election.
Oklahoma's democracy is suffering. Healthy, engaged communities show plenty of candidate options and robust voter turnout. Instead, our system is scaring people away from public service.
Oklahoma must get people civically engaged. That starts with asking why so many smart, capable Oklahomans are avoiding public service and even the ballot box. Studies show that legislators running unopposed are less engaged with their constituents. Also, citizens are more likely to become alienated from processes that don't provide choices.
Oklahoma's closed primaries shuts out hundreds of thousands of voters, and straight-party voting gives power to political parties over candidates. Oklahoma is one of only six states with the straight-party option. That is when voters mark a single box next to a political party to trigger selection of candidates only from that party.
In 2018 midterm election, 40% of Oklahomans voted with the straight-party box. Of those straight-party voters, 64.5% were Republicans, 34% were Democrats and 1.3% were Libertarians. That jumped to 45.5% of all voters in the November 2020 election, breaking down to 71% Republicans, 28% Democrats and 1% Libertarians. It's an outdated mechanism cynically letting parties choose over making independent choices.
More states are moving to different models of ranked choice elections or variations of open primaries. Results are showing more voter turnout in these races and more success for moderate candidates. That would be a vast improvement over Oklahoma's current primary season of extremism and division. The polarization avoids discussions on more complex problems and solutions.
At a minimum, lawmakers ought to consider opening elections to all voters when the only candidates in a race are from the same party. That way, the winner would be a more true representative of constituents.
Taxpayers pay for the primaries for political parties, so that seems closer to fair. Republican leadership could make these changes. Democrats had a chance to do that and didn't, fearing a loss of power. That's a poor excuse from doing the right things to better our state.
If Oklahomans continue down this road of disinterest and apathy, nothing will improve. It's up to our lawmakers to makes changes to turn around this insidious apathy.
[Editorial / Tulsa World]
