Some Oklahoma voters have complained about receiving mail that incorrectly tells them that they’re not registered to vote in their area.
Oklahoma State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said complaints came rolling in last week from voters who had received mail from the Tulsa-based nonprofit OKVote.
He said the nonprofit partnered with a third party mailing vendor to send mail to unregistered voters in Oklahoma. The organization has since acknowledged an error in how their vendor identifies some voters.
The mailing included a letter and voter registration form, and went out to about 31,000 households. OKVote estimated that 1-2% of people who received the mailing were either already registered or recently registered to vote at their current address.
"Whether OKVote had good intentions or not, and I believe they did have good intentions - it’s problematic when voters are being mistakenly advised that they are not registered to vote at their current address when they are," Ziriax said.
The state election board is encouraging Oklahomans to use the official online OK Voter Portal or contact their county election board to confirm their registration. The deadline to register to vote or update your information for the November general election is October 9th.
---
KOSU depends on donors to keep delivering you the news and information you need. Support this public service by giving monthly as a sustaining member of KOSU or make a one-time donation of your choice. Thank you. Click here to give.
