SQ 836 (Top-Two Primary Elections)

State Question 836 was a proposed constitutional amendment that would change how Oklahoma nominates and selects candidates for political office. If the initiative petition qualifies for the ballot and is approved, rather than each political party holding separate primaries, there would be open primaries for statewide and county offices, district attorney, state legislators, and congressional candidates. Under SQ 836, all candidates for an office would have appeared on a single primary ballot regardless of party, with the top-two vote-getters moving forward to the general election. This type of top-two electoral system is currently used in California, Nebraska, and Washington.

Organizers of the initiative petition had until January 26, 2026 to collect and submit a minimum of 172,993 valid signatures. The campaign submitted more than 200,000 signatures to the Secretary of State for verification at the deadline. However, the Secretary of State announced on March 5, 2026, that the organizers had failed to collect a sufficient number of valid signatures to make it onto the ballot.