Elections in Oklahoma are always held on
Tuesdays. County, state, and federal elections are held in
even-numbered years.
Primaries are held the fourth Tuesday in August.
Runoff primaries are held the third Tuesday in September.
General elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November.
Presidential primaries are held on the second Tuesday in March in
presidential election years.
School elections are held every year on the second Tuesday in
February. School board runoff election are held on the first
Tuesday in April, if needed.
Most municipal elections are held in March and April in
odd-numbered years. The exact dates vary from town to town, but
may be obtained from municipal officials.
If you are registered to vote in Oklahoma, you may vote in any
election for which you are eligible, including:
school district elections,
municipal elections,
county elections,
state elections,
federal elections.
You may vote in a school district election only if you are
registered and reside at an address within the geographical
boundaries of the district.
You may vote in a municipal election only if you are registered
and reside at an address within the geographical boundaries of
the municipality.
All voters vote at the polling place in the precinct in which you
are registered. A precinct is a voting
district established by your county election board. The name of
your polling place is on your voter identification card.
The polls open at 7 a.m. on election day and remain open until 7 p.m. All voters
in line to vote at 7 p.m., you will allowed to
vote.
When you go to your polling place, poll workers will:
Ask your name and political affiliation.
Find your name in the precinct registry.
Tell you to sign the precinct registry.
Give you a ballot and a pen.
Direct you to a voting booth.
After you mark your ballot, put it in the voting device and leave
the polling place.
If your name is not "in the book," you still can vote
by showing your voter identification card. First, however, you
must fill out a voter registration application form, sign a
special form, and turn in your voter identification card. (The
county election board will mail a new voter identification card
to you after the election.)
If you make a mistake when you mark your ballot, don't try to
correct it. Instead, take it back to the poll workers and tell
them you made a mistake. If you received more than one ballot,
and you marked all the others correctly, put the correct ballots
in the voting device. The poll worker will tear up your spoiled
ballot and then give you a new one. After you have marked it, put
it in the voting device.
Oklahoma has a
"closed primary" system. If you register to vote in a
political party, you may vote only for that party's candidates in
party primary elections.
If you do not register in a political party (by choosing the
"No Party" option on the Oklahoma Voter Registration
Application form), you may not vote in party primaries without
party permission.
Every county in Oklahoma
uses electronic, optical-scanning vote counting devices at the
precinct polling place. Voters mark the ballot by filling in the
arrow beside a candidate's name. The voting device reads and
counts the ballot when it is inserted in the voting device.
The voting device detects some common mistakes voters make when
marking their ballots. For example, if a voter marks arrows for
more than one candidate in the same race, the voting device
"sees" this error and returns the ballot to the voter.
The voting device also prints a message that explains why the
ballot was returned. The voter then can get a new ballot to mark
again correctly so that all his or her votes count.
People who conduct exit polls sometimes approach voters as they
leave the polling place. Exit polls are unofficial surveys of
voters usually conducted by news media. Election officials do not
conduct exit polls. People who conduct exit polls within 300 feet
of the ballot box must display identification. Participation in
exit polls is voluntary.