Voter roll purge highlights voter, candidate apathy

Oklahoma State Election Board sends address confirmation notices as biennial voter list maintenance process begins.

April 29, 2025

The Oklahoma State Election Board’s biennial voter list maintenance process has begun, which means that voters who haven’t voted recently or have changed addresses should verify their voter registration or risk being removed from state voter rolls.

This process, mandated by state and federal law, highlights a troubling trend, at least in Oklahoma politics: many of the state’s legislative seats are won unopposed, and others feature candidates from only one political party. The lack of candidates and competitive races contribute to voter apathy, which in turn leads to inactive voters being purged from voting rolls. Fewer voters mean elected officials are less accountable to their constituents. In their place, party leadership and lobbyists representing special interests are eager to fill the void.

According to a University of Florida report following the 2024 presidential election, 53.4 percent of Oklahomans who were legally eligible to vote did so, which ranked last nationwide. Political analysts blamed a lack of competitive races as one reason voters didn’t show up to the polls.

In January, the state election board completed its last voter registration purge, removing 129,680 inactive voter registrations and 2,242 duplicate voter registrations from Oklahoma’s voter rolls. That represents approximately 5.3 percent of the state’s 2.47 million registered voters.

During the 2024 state legislative election cycle, six out of twenty-four Oklahoma Senate seats up for election were won unopposed, and eight more featured candidates from only one political party, meaning no general election was held. In the Oklahoma House of Representatives, an astounding forty-four out of 101 seats were won unopposed, and twenty-five more featured candidates from only one political party, so the general election was cancelled.

Of the Oklahoma Legislature’s 149 total seats, fifty of them were won unopposed in 2024. When one-third of our state legislators face no opposition, they are not held accountable by their constituents. We often hear complaints that state lawmakers don’t listen to their constituents. That’s because they don’t have to. Candidates who win unopposed do not have to knock doors, attend candidate forums, or face questions about their stance on the issues of the day. If voters and constituents aren’t telling their lawmakers what policies to support and oppose, then who is? Party leadership and special interest lobbyists are happy to help, and their agendas are probably wildly different than those discussed by families around kitchen tables.

In 2024, thirty-seven Republican House members won election unopposed, and twenty-two more House races were decided in the Republican primary or runoff elections. A total of eight Democrats won unopposed, and three more House races were decided in the Democratic primary or runoff elections. We have gerrymandering to thank for that, and it works. During the last election cycle, not a single seat in the Oklahoma Legislature flipped from one political party to another.

During the 2024 general election, there were only twelve out of twenty-four possible general elections held for Oklahoma Senate seats, and just thirty-two out of 101 possible Oklahoma House general elections. It’s no wonder there’s low voter turnout because many legislative districts have nothing to vote for, and none of Oklahoma’s Congressional races were competitive, thanks again to the legislative redistricting process that happens every ten years. The last two sets of state and federal legislative maps were drawn and approved by the Republican supermajority in the Oklahoma Legislature.

What’s the solution? Constituents must register to vote and then show up to the polls when elections are held. Oklahoma’s political parties must field candidates in every legislative race across the state. The redistricting process should be completed without rigging future elections by gerrymandering.

Maybe then, voters would turn out, our elected officials would have to listen to their constituents, and the Oklahoma State Election Board wouldn’t have to purge so many voters from the rolls.

Address confirmation notices mailed to state voters

The Oklahoma State Election Board has begun sending out address confirmation notices to certain state voters who have not voted recently, may have moved, or have been identified as a potential duplicate voter.

The notices are required by state law to confirm whether the identified voters still reside at their address on file with their county election board.

Voters who receive an address confirmation notice have sixty days to respond. Voters who do not respond and confirm their address within the allotted time will be designated as “inactive” and are required by law to be removed from the voter rolls after the 2028 general election, according to a press release issued by the state election board.

Voters who receive an address confirmation notice are encouraged to respond as quickly as possible. Inactive voters can reverse their status and avoid removal by updating their voter registration or by voting in any election on or before the 2028 general election, said Paul Ziriax, state election board secretary. “It takes just a couple of minutes to confirm or update your registration. The easiest way to respond is online through the OK Voter Portal,” said Ziriax. “You can also fill out the card and mail it back to us—postage paid.”

Not all voters will receive an address confirmation notice—only those that meet one of several reasons specified by state law. There are seven reasons why a voter may receive an address confirmation notice, including:

* Any voter for whom a first-class mailing from the county election board or the state election board was returned;

* Any voter identified by the secretary of the state election board as a potential duplicate voter in another county or state;

* Any voters identified by the United States Postal Service who may have changed their address of residence;

* Any voter who may be deceased but whose voter registration has not been cancelled;

* Any voter who has not voted in the past two general elections or any election conducted by a county election board since the last two general elections;

* Any voter who was sent a notice to update their voter registration but hasn’t; and,

* Any voter who is registered to vote and has the same address of residence as five or more other registered voters.

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