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Frequently Asked Questions
Absentee Voting | Address Confirmation | Early Voting | Military and Overseas Voting | Political Parties | Primary Elections | Proof of Identity for Voting | Voter List | Voter Registration | Voting | When and Where to Vote | Write-in Voting
No. State law requires that you register to vote according to your address of residence. You may vote only at the polling place to which you are assigned based on the address where you are registered. (But you can request an absentee ballot or vote early. See above.)
You can request to have an absentee ballot mailed to you in Norman (see above) or you may choose to register to vote in Norman. If you register in Norman, your registration in Tulsa will be canceled.
If the card you received looks like this one, it is from the Oklahoma State Election Board. It is
sent to some registered voters to help us verify and update voter registration records. Federal
and state law require us to send these cards every two years.
The State Election Board has a special P. O. Box to receive the Address Confirmation Notice
Return Cards.
Yes.
Yes. However, the return card is designed to be folded and sealed with tape so that all personal
information is inside.
No. The law requires the voter to return the card by regular mail or deliver it in person to the voter's County Election Board office.
Federal and state law require us to confirm voters' addresses periodically.
No. Only some voters will receive a notice. Some family members may receive a card while
others may not. Those who do not receive a card are not in danger of being removed from the
voter registration rolls.
Voters who fall into one of five categories will receive a notice. The categories are:
- Voter has not voted since before the 2010 General Election.
- Voter has the same last name, first initial, and birth date as another voter in the state.
- First-class mailing sent to voter since January 1, 2011, was returned by the post office as undeliverable.
- Voter surrendered Oklahoma driver license in another state.
- Voter may have registered to vote in another state.
No. The card should be thrown away. If you are a member of the deceased voter's family, you
may submit a form to the County Election Board to cancel the voter's registration. This form
either must be notarized or witnessed by two people who include their names and addresses on
the form.
If the voter wants to remain registered, the voter's spouse or child should take the confirmation card to the nursing home, have the voter sign it, and then mail it.
If the voter does not want to remain registered, the card should be thrown away. The voter's
registration will be canceled following the 2016 General Election. (The voter may submit a
notarized cancellation request in order to be canceled sooner.)
There is no provision in state law to allow a voter's next-of-kin to cancel voter registration if the voter is still living.
Yes. If you have not already submitted a new voter registration application to change your name,
the return card can be used for this purpose.
Complete the card, indicating your new last name. In the margin just above the name, write
"name has changed due to marriage/divorce." Your registration record will be updated to
indicate your new name, and you will receive a new voter identification card.
Yes. If you have not already submitted a new voter registration application to change your name
and address within the county, you can use the return card for this purpose.
Complete the card, indicating your new last name. In the margin just above the name, write
"name has changed due to marriage/divorce." List the new address. Your record will be updated
to indicate your new name and address, and you will receive a new voter identification card.
If you know the voter's new address, write "Moved to: (address)" and return the card. If you do
not know the voter's new address, throw the card away.
If you are the spouse or parent of the voter, you may choose to do any of the following:
- Put the notice in an envelope, affix postage, and mail it to the voter.
- Save the confirmation notice until the voter returns home. The voter's registration will become inactive if the notice is not returned within 60 days; however, if the card is returned after the 60-day deadline but before cancellation in 2016, the voter's registration will be reactivated.
- Throw the card away. The voter will become inactive but will be reactivated if he or she votes in any election up to and including the 2016 General Election.
By law, a voter's registration will become inactive if the notice is not returned within 60 days. The law requires the Election Board to
cancel the voter registration of an inactive voter who (1) does not initiate a voter registration change or (2) does not vote in an election conducted by a county election board by the date of the second General Election for federal office following the date of the confirmation mailing. (For a voter who does not respond to the address confirmation notice in 2013, the voter's registration is required by law to be canceled following the 2016 General Election unless the voter reactivates the voter registration by voting or by initiating a voter
registration change.)
Yes! You can vote at the County Election Board office in the county where you are registered to vote from 8 AM to 6 PM on Friday and Monday before all elections. For state and federal elections only, you also can vote from 8 AM until 1 PM on Saturday before the election.
Details.
Military voters should contact the Voting Assistance Officers in their units for application forms and information. Overseas voters may obtain the same materials at United States military installations, embassies and consulates, or online from the Federal Voting Assistance Program. (You will be redirected to an external site.) Military and overseas voters who need to contact their County Election Board in Oklahoma can find e-mail addresses here.
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An absentee voter who is in the uniformed services or who is a civilian living or working overseas may contact the appropriate County Election Board by e-mail for confirmation that the voter's absentee ballot has been received by that election board. Get County Election Board e-mail addresses here.
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The Democratic and Republican parties are recognized.
Americans Elect is recognized as a political organization.
1.
I am a Democrat. All the candidates in the Primary Election are Republicans. Can I vote for them?
No. Oklahoma is a closed primary state. Only registered voters of a political party
may vote to select their party's nominees.
Details.
2.
I am a Republican. All the candidates in the Primary Election are Democrats. Can I vote for them?
No. Oklahoma is a closed primary state. Only registered voters of a political party
may vote to select their party's nominees.
Details.
You cannot obtain permission on an individual basis. In November of each odd-numbered year,
recognized political parties declare whether or not they will permit Independents to vote in their
primary elections during the following two calendar years. For 2012 and 2013, permission
was not granted.
State law requires all registered voters to prove their identity before voting in person at the precinct polling place on election day or during early voting at the County Election Board.
Details
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You may show any document issued by the United States, the State of Oklahoma, or a
federally recognized tribal government if it includes your name, a photograph of you, and
an expiration date that is later than the election in which you are voting. For example,
the following documents meet these requirements:
- Oklahoma driver license
- Oklahoma Identification Card
- United States passport
- United States military identification
1. An Oklahoma Identification Card issued to a person who is 65 years old or older is valid as proof of identity for voting even though it does not have an expiration date.
2. The Voter Identification Card issued by the County Election Board is valid as proof of identity even though it does not include a photograph or an expiration date.
The law also requires that your name on your proof of identity must match your name in the Precinct Registry.
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You may use a tribal membership card if it includes your name, a photograph of you, and
an expiration date that is later than the election in which you are voting.
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If you do not show proof of identity, you may vote only by provisional ballot.
Voters who cast provisional ballots are required to fill out and sign an affidavit that
explains why their provisional ballot should be counted. Provisional ballots are sealed
inside special envelopes and are not put through the voting device. After election day,
County Election Board officials will investigate the information provided by the voter on
the affidavit and either will approve the provisional ballot for counting or will reject it
based on the outcome of that investigation. In order for a provisional ballot to be approved for counting, the information on the affidavit must match the information in the voter's registration record.
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If you refuse to show proof of identity, you may vote only by provisional ballot.
Voters who cast provisional ballots are required to fill out and sign an affidavit that
explains why their provisional ballot should be counted. Provisional ballots are sealed
inside special envelopes and are not put through the voting device. After election day,
County Election Board officials will investigate the information provided by the voter on
the affidavit and either will approve the provisional ballot for counting or will reject it
based on the outcome of that investigation. In order for a provisional ballot to be approved for counting, the information on the affidavit must match the information in the voter's registration record.
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Take this simple test to determine whether your ID is valid for voting in Oklahoma.
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No. Most voters who vote by absentee ballot either have their signatures on their
affidavits notarized or have them witnessed by two people. The law considers the
notarization or witnessing sufficient to establish the identity of an absentee voter.
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Only the voter can request that his or her name be removed. The voter may complete a "Request to Cancel Voter Registration" form and send it to the County Election Board in the county where he or she is registered, requesting that his or her voter registration be canceled. The request must be notarized. Get the form here.
The deceased voter's next of kin may complete a "Request to Cancel Registration of Deceased Voter" form at the polling place. Or, the next of kin may send the request to the County Election Board in the county where the deceased voter is registered. The request must be notarized. Get the form here.
CDs containing voter registration data for a precinct, county, legislative district, Congressional district, school district or municipality—or for the entire state—are available from the State Election Board. Get a fee schedule, order form and other information here. Or, call the State Election Board at 405-521-2391 or e-mail:
info@elections.ok.gov.
Voter registration records do not contain voters' telephone numbers. We cannot offer any
assistance in obtaining that information.
Election Board records do not contain candidates' telephone numbers or e-mail addresses. We cannot offer any
assistance in obtaining that information.
Voter registration records do not include any of these types of information.
It's easy. Just complete a voter registration form and send it in. Get the application here. You can also get the form at most post offices and public libraries, or you can complete one at County Election Board offices and tag agencies. Details.
To make any changes to your voter registration, send in a new voter registration application. Get the application here. You cannot make changes in your voter registration online or by telephone.
Details.
Request a replacement Voter ID card from the County Election Board in the county where you are registered to vote.
Whether you do or do not vote in a primary election has no bearing on your eligibility to vote in a
general election. If you are properly registered, you are eligible to vote.
Whether you vote in all races that appear on your ballot, in only some of the races, or in only one
race, any vote you cast is always counted. If you prefer not to vote for a candidate or a question, you are entitled to make that choice. It
will not affect the counting of your votes in any other races on your ballot.
See this excellent treatment of the Electoral College from the Office of the Federal Register.
See Oklahoma's 2012 nominees for Presidential Elector here.
On regular and special election days, polling places are open from 7 AM until 7 PM. (Hours are different for early voting.)
Find your polling place here.
No. Write-in voting is not permitted by law in Oklahoma. (There is one exception to this rule. In extraordinary circumstances, military and overseas voters may write in the names of candidates for federal offices when there is insufficient time for them to vote a normal absentee ballot. This is done on a special write-in absentee ballot. For further information on this procedure, contact the Oklahoma State Election Board: info@elections.ok.gov.)