OKLAHOMA CITY — The Senate passed a bill Wednesday to move school board elections to November, despite concerns it could increase costs for candidates and make races partisan.
Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, said moving the elections from April to November is necessary to increase voter participation.
Senate Bill 6 would move school primary elections from February to September in odd-numbered years and to August in even-numbered years.
Seifried, the author of the measure, said current school board elections are held at a time when voters aren’t paying attention and should be moved to a period when voters are engaged, she said.
“Voter turnout in local school board elections is alarmingly low because these contests are held outside Oklahoma’s traditional election cycles,” she said. “Senate Bill 6 will increase the number of candidates running for these key positions and, more importantly, boost voter participation in these pivotal races.”
While Seifried said school board races would remain nonpartisan, critics of moving the elections said it would be a mistake to include the races on General Election ballots that contain partisan contests.
School board races should not be intermingled with state and federal races that get ugly along party lines, said Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City.
Candidates who file to run for school board are unpaid and requiring them to campaign for a November election will put their credentials under a microscope, she said.
“I think it is a misstep to align these elections with partisan-fueled races,” Hicks said. “I think it is dangerous.”
Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, said the change will result in fewer candidates running for school board posts.
Mann, who previously served on the Oklahoma City school board, said half to three-fourths of legislative seats are determined in the primary, meaning many voters have no reason to show up for the November general election.
He said that if school board races are moved, the cost of a candidate’s message will triple or quadruple.
“I think voters have fatigue,” said Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond. “You have too many elections in this state. This is giving people the opportunity to be more informed, more educated.”
The bill, which passed by a vote of 33-10, largely along party lines, moves to the House for consideration.
Republished in partnership with Oklahoma Voice under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Oklahoma Voice is a part of States Newsroom which is a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and Twitter.
Barbara Hoberock is a senior reporter with Oklahoma Voice. She has covered the statehouse since 1994 and served as Tulsa World Capitol Bureau chief. Hoberock covers statewide elected officials, the legislature, agencies, state issues, appellate courts and elections.
