Dollens hopes his book will guide and empower voters to take a more active role in changing policy at the local and state levels. And do it in a way that cuts through partisan politics.
The House District 93 representative said “The Citizen's Guide to Political Change: How to Win With Ballot Initiatives and Defend Direct Democracy,” is a step-by-step guide explaining the ballot initiative process, why it matters and how Republicans at the Oklahoma State Capitol have worked to undermine it.
In Oklahoma and the 25 other states where ballot initiatives are codified, citizens can work together to pass legislation they want. The process gives individuals a say regardless of their party affiliation and without the need to depend on their lawmakers to do it for them. Some states, including Oklahoma, also allow their citizens to amend and repeal unpopular or harmful legislation.
“People have asked me if we can address issues like gerrymandering,” Dollens said. “Yes. Campaign finance reform? Absolutely. Abortion access? Yes. Open primaries? Yes. It’s all possible through the ballot initiative process.”
Ballot initiatives, also known as state questions or citizen petitions, serve as a crucial check on power in states like Oklahoma where one party controls the government.
In 2018, Florida citizens voted to allow certain convicted felons to vote. New Mexico voters upped state funding for early childhood education in 2022.
Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana statewide via direct democracy with State Question 788 in 2018. Last year, Oklahomans proposed legalizing recreational cannabis while expunging certain marijuana-related charges for people serving prison time. That initiative failed.
Dollens said the guidance in the book applies to any voter in a state where ballot initiatives are allowed, but that Oklahoma serves as the best case study for understanding the process of direct democracy. When regular people can vote not just for their representatives, he said, but on policy itself, it can balance an otherwise one-sided government.
“Oklahoma is one of the reddest states in the country,” Dollens said. “Yet the people of this state have passed Medicaid expansion, medical marijuana, and criminal justice reforms.”
Right now, Oklahomans are aiming to raise the minimum wage using a ballot initiative.
“They just collected double the signatures needed for raising the minimum wage,” Dollens said. “It's been over 15 years since the minimum wage has been increased. It's still $7.25.”
State Question 832 would address that by amending the Oklahoma Minimum Wage Act. Raise the Wage Oklahoma, the group behind the initiative, needed 92,263 signatures and got 157,287 signatures verified by the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s office.
The state question now faces a protest period during which it could be challenged by citizens or interest groups and sent to the State Supreme Court for deliberation. It’s unclear whether the protest will last 10 days or 90, based on recently passed legislation.
After that, Oklahomans could soon get the chance to vote on whether to raise the minimum wage to $15.
But Dollens said some of his Republican colleagues have been trying to take the power of direct democracy from their constituents for years – despite its guarantee in the state constitution.
“Oklahoma was the first state in the nation to incorporate this into our original Constitution 114 years ago, and for 114 years it's been mostly untouched,” Dollens said. “Until the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and said ‘this is a state issue.’”
That moment two years ago, he said, gave Republican lawmakers a fresh incentive to ensure they control state policy.
The battle for and against ballot initiative access
In 2024 alone, Oklahoma lawmakers filed nearly two dozen measures to change the ballot initiative process. Some bills sought to make it easier and more accessible, while others aimed to add barriers.
House Bill 3810 by Dollens, for example, would have doubled the time allowed to collect signatures for an initiative from 90 days to 180 days. Senate minority leader-elect Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, filed a similar bill in the other chamber. Both bills died early in the process without getting committee hearings.
House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, and Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville introduced House Bill 1105, which extends the time available for citizens to object to an initiative from 10 days to 90 days, requires a $50 background check for circulators of the measure and implements a refundable $1,000 fee. It passed overwhelmingly in both chambers and was signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt.
Senate Bill 518 by Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, and Rep. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, made similar changes to the process, but with lower fees and 20 days to object instead of 90. It too passed both chambers and was signed by Stitt.
Since both of these measures contained emergency clauses, they officially took effect on the dates they were signed, but it’s unclear whether the Secretary of State’s office has implemented the new procedures or whether they will impact the minimum wage question. The agency's website still describes a 10-day objection period. The Secretary of State’s office did not respond to calls for clarification in time for publication.
Charles Key is a former member of the House of Representatives. He served two separate terms: once from 1986-1998 as a Democrat, and then again from 2006-2012 as a Republican. Today he calls himself a Republican, and he said it’s no accident majority party bills get through so easily while minority bills languish.
“Most people think that when they elect somebody to the House of Representatives, that person can go up there to the capitol and represent them on an equal basis,” he said. “But actually they do not. In 30 states — Oklahoma is one of them — the rules allow the Speaker of the House, who's the top person in the House, and then the Senate Pro Tem, who's the top person in the Senate, to effectively have all power over almost all decisions.
”The “rules” Key mentions are not state statutes applying to all Oklahomans, but guidelines and procedures regulating the leadership structures and behaviors of lawmakers. They are set by the House Speaker and Senate Pro Tem, who are internally elected behind closed doors by the majority caucus to lead their chambers.
“They decide which committee a bill will be assigned to,” Key said. “They also decide the whole membership of every committee and choose the chairman and the vice chairman of each committee.”
This dynamic was evident during budget negotiations between the House and the Senate this year, when Pro Tem Greg Treat, R- Oklahoma City, booted Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, from his chairmanship over the Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee and replaced him with Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry. Treat eventually revealed that the decision was made because of disagreements on how to negotiate with House members and when.
Key said the experience of having his bills denied committee and floor hearings led him to write his own book about the inner workings of the state legislature, “Stolen Government: Why Your Representative Cannot Represent You and How to Reclaim Your Voice.” It was published in January.
Dollens and Key, who call each other friends despite their differing politics, argue that the best way to reel in a supermajority is to ensure constituents have the ultimate say.
Ballot initiatives are one way to achieve that. Key also points to policies that would ensure bills by elected officials are guaranteed committee and floor hearings – on behalf of their constituents.
“You have to have a check on the legislature itself,” Key said. “And the people are that.”
