Politics

Oklahoma Supreme Court declares 10-day objection period for minimum wage question

KOSU | By Lionel Ramos

Published August 21, 2024 at 5:15 AM CDT

Supporters of State Question 832 at their signature turning in event. — Supporters of State Question 832 at their signature filing event.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court says that State Question 832 will have a 10-day protest period in an opinion released last week. The opinion offers clarity about whether the period should be 10, 20 or 90 days long — a conundrum caused by new laws that conflict with current statutes and each other.

In an opinion released last week, the state supreme court certified the signatures of 157,287 Oklahomans who would like to see the option to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour on the ballot during an upcoming election.

The court also clarified that the time period during which opponents of State Question 832 object to its language, validity or the certification of its associated signatures is to be 10 days long — despite laws passed this year expanding it to 90 days.

Those measures are House Bill 1105 and Senate Bill 518, which complicate and prolong the ballot initiative process by increasing fees, lengthening the time allowed to object and requiring background checks for circulators.

Justice Douglas Combs wrote the opinion, joined by Justice Yvone Kauger.

“Although we could theoretically side-step answering this question, we believe the better path is to decide the issue so that due process can be defined and observed going forward,” Combs said.

The reasoning was simple: When the proponents filed the ballot initiative with the Secretary of State’s office last October, state law spelled out a 10-day period for any citizen to object at this point in the process.