SB 1027 would exclude millions of registered voters from signing initiative petitions

Cole Allen // April 16, 2025 // Updated: May 21, 2025
OK Policy Articles & Research // //

Voter registration numbers updated 11/2025 to reflect October 2025 registration information.

Oklahoma’s initiative petition process is an effective and secure way for citizens to serve as a check on our state government and our elected officials. However, Senate Bill 1027 would place arbitrary restrictions on how many signatures could be collected from each county for an initiative petition. SB 1027 would exclude millions of registered voters in Oklahoma from signing initiative petitions.

As currently written, SB 1027 sets a maximum number of signatures that can be collected from each county:

  • For amendments to state statutes, the maximum number of signatures from any one county cannot exceed 11.5% of the total number of votes cast for governor in that county during the most recent general election.
  • For Constitutional amendments, the maximum number of signatures from any one county cannot exceed 20.8% of the total number of votes cast for governor in that county during the most recent general election.

There are more than 2.3 million registered voters in Oklahoma, of which 1.15 million voters cast ballots for governor in the 2022 general election. When applying SB 1027’s formula statewide, its requirement would exclude 2.26 million registered voters (or 94.5% of registered voters) from signing a petition for statutory amendments; it would exclude 2.15 million registered voters (or 90.0% of registered voters) from signing a petition for constitutional amendments.

The framers of the Oklahoma Constitution called the initiative “the first power reserved to the people” in Article 5. The initiative petition process works to both balance and complement the powers of the Legislature and other branches of Oklahoma’s government; it’s a key part of Oklahoma’s democracy, and lawmakers should reject SB 1027’s attempts to make it less accessible to all Oklahomans.

A county-by-county look at how SB 1027 would exclude millions of Oklahoma voters from participating in initiative petition process

(NOTE: Mobile viewers may need to turn their devices to landscape mode to best view this table.)

County Total number of registered voters Total number of votes cast for governor at the last general election SB 1027’s maximum number of signatures for a petition to change state statutes, by county Number of registered voters excluded from signing a petition to change a state statute SB 1027’s maximum number of signatures for a petition to amend the state constitution, by county Number of registered voters who would be excluded from signing a constitutional amendment petition
Oklahoma 459,321 222,554 25,594 433,727 46,291 413,030
Tulsa 393,948 194,095 22,321 371,627 40,372 353,576
Cleveland 178,975 91,279 10,497 168,478 18,986 159,989
Canadian 108,972 50,214 5,775 103,197 10,445 98,527
Rogers 66,198 33,933 2,712 62,296 4,905 59,140
Comanche 61,479 23,580 3,902 58,767 7,058 56,574
Wagoner 54,542 26,870 2,546 51,452 4,605 48,953
Creek 45,146 22,350 3,090 42,576 5,589 40,497
Payne 44,987 22,138 2,382 42,441 4,308 40,382
Pottawatomie 43,219 20,713 2,570 40,837 4,649 38,911
Muskogee 38,188 17,796 2,047 36,141 3,702 34,486
Grady 36,329 17,825 1,865 34,279 3,373 32,621
Logan 34,988 17,019 2,050 33,031 3,708 31,448
Washington 34,605 17,151 1,972 32,633 3,567 31,038
Garfield 34,032 16,214 1,957 32,167 3,540 30,659
Carter 31,175 13,408 1,396 29,633 2,525 28,386
McClain 30,184 15,046 1,542 28,454 2,789 27,054
Osage 29,708 15,105 1,558 27,971 2,817 26,566
Le Flore 29,866 12,141 1,319 28,470 2,385 27,341
Bryan 29,616 11,467 1,737 28,297 3,142 27,231
Cherokee 28,228 13,545 1,459 26,670 2,640 25,411
Delaware 28,114 13,218 1,441 26,594 2,607 25,365
Stephens 27,845 13,116 1,508 26,337 2,728 25,117
Pittsburg 27,403 12,691 1,730 25,944 3,130 24,763
Kay 26,012 12,532 1,520 24,571 2,749 23,405
Mayes 25,310 12,650 1,182 23,855 2,137 22,679
Sequoyah 24,667 10,274 1,455 23,485 2,631 22,530
Pontotoc 23,358 11,205 1,289 22,069 2,331 21,027
Lincoln 21,866 11,098 1,223 20,590 2,212 19,558
Okmulgee 21,903 10,635 1,276 20,680 2,308 19,691
Ottawa 18,484 7,688 949 17,600 1,716 16,885
McCurtain 17,410 8,248 884 16,461 1,599 15,694
Garvin 16,355 8,122 862 15,421 1,558 14,666
Custer 15,289 7,492 812 14,427 1,469 13,731
Caddo 14,301 7,062 934 13,489 1,689 12,832
Jackson 13,455 5,502 633 12,822 1,144 12,311
McIntosh 12,805 6,476 674 12,060 1,219 11,458
Seminole 12,657 5,861 630 11,983 1,140 11,438
Beckham 11,694 5,480 421 11,064 761 10,554
Adair 11,354 5,222 618 10,753 1,118 10,268
Woodward 11,051 5,377 601 10,433 1,086 9,933
Marshall 10,234 4,391 745 9,729 1,347 9,321
Pawnee 9,991 5,047 580 9,411 1,050 8,941
Kingfisher 9,363 4,883 505 8,801 913 8,347
Choctaw 9,106 4,050 562 8,640 1,016 8,264
Texas 8,956 3,658 466 8,535 842 8,195
Murray 8,607 4,251 451 8,118 816 7,723
Craig 8,531 4,485 516 8,015 933 7,598
Atoka 8,232 3,921 489 7,781 884 7,416
Hughes 7,101 3,545 408 6,693 737 6,364
Pushmataha 7,094 3,297 390 6,715 706 6,408
Haskell 7,004 3,392 339 6,614 613 6,298
Noble 6,939 3,814 439 6,500 793 6,146
Washita 6,698 3,575 411 6,287 744 5,954
Love 6,718 2,742 379 6,403 686 6,148
Nowata 6,672 3,323 341 6,290 616 5,981
Johnston 6,127 2,963 315 5,786 570 5,511
Okfuskee 6,071 2,945 352 5,732 637 5,458
Latimer 6,086 3,064 382 5,734 691 5,449
Blaine 5,565 2,980 343 5,222 620 4,945
Woods 4,991 2,702 311 4,680 562 4,429
Kiowa 4,824 2,461 283 4,541 512 4,312
Major 4,635 2,691 309 4,326 560 4,075
Tillman 3,968 1,850 213 3,755 385 3,583
Coal 3,794 1,908 200 3,575 361 3,397
Cotton 3,743 1,843 212 3,531 383 3,360
Jefferson 3,527 1,613 154 3,342 279 3,191
Beaver 3,167 1,698 185 2,972 336 2,814
Dewey 3,039 1,767 219 2,836 397 2,671
Alfalfa 2,981 1,735 195 2,781 353 2,620
Grant 2,879 1,599 203 2,695 368 2,546
Greer 2,893 1,342 184 2,739 333 2,614
Ellis 2,532 1,486 171 2,361 309 2,223
Roger Mills 2,347 1,320 152 2,195 275 2,072
Harper 1,907 1,168 134 1,773 243 1,664
Harmon 1,375 650 75 1,300 135 1,240
Cimarron 1,338 733 84 1,254 152 1,186
TOTALS 2,394,074 1,153,284 132,628 2,261,444 239,883 2,154,189

Percentage of registered voters
excluded from signing petitions

 94.5%   90.0%

Source: OK Policy analysis of Oklahoma Election Board results from November 2022 general election. Registered voters current as of October 2025. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cole Allen // callen@okpolicy.org

Cole Allen joined OK Policy as a Policy Fellow in August 2022 and was named the Criminal Justice Policy Analyst in October 2023. He attended the University of Oklahoma, earning a BA in International Studies with minors in Religious Studies and Middle Eastern Studies in May 2022 and is currently working on an MA in International Studies. During college, Cole was a research assistant at the Center for U.S.-China Issues and the Center for Cyber Governance and Policy. He also interned for the U.S. Department of State Diplomat in Residence for the Central United States. Cole hopes that his work at OK Policy will help make Oklahoma a more just and equitable state for all its residents. When he is not working, Cole enjoys travelling, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and following OU athletics.