Early voting to begin Wednesday in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY – Thousands of Oklahoma voters are expected to go to the polls early this week to cast ballots before the Nov. 3 general  election.

Oklahoma’s four-day in-person early voting window begins Wednesday and ends Saturday. Voters will cast ballots for legislative seats, statewide offices, congressional races, county posts, judicial retention and two legislatively proposed state questions.

Oklahoma has one of the shortest early voting periods in the country, and legislative efforts to expand that window have not advanced.

“With four days of early voting plus election day, “there are plenty of opportunities for voters to cast their ballot,” said State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax. “Remember, no excuse is needed to vote early. However, you will need to complete an in-person absentee ballot application when you check in at your early voting location.”

Voters may vote for any candidate regardless of party affiliation.

Several county election boards have opened more than one early-voting location.

Oklahoma County has three early voting locations for the first time after some voters reported waiting in lines for more than an hour during the presidential election two years ago.

Oklahoma County Election Board Secretary Doug Sanderson said officials added an additional polling location in the south part of the city.

“So, we’ve kind of got good distribution all over the county,” he said. “It is one per county commissioner.” 

Tulsa County will have four locations.

Tulsa County Election Board officials were trying to serve each of the city’s four quadrants, said Ronni Pierce, communications coordinator.

“So that is why we have located an early voting center in the north, the south, the east and the west, so we could just make sure that everybody was just minutes away from an early voting location,” she said.

Cleveland County has six early voting sites.

Canadian County, which is Oklahoma’s fourth most populated county, has two polling locations. 

Voters must cast ballots in the county in which they are registered.

They must also show proof of identity issued by the state, federal government or a federally recognized tribe before receiving a ballot. Voters may also use their county election board voter card even though it does not contain a photograph.

Those without identification can vote by provisional ballot.

Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

To find their closest early polling site and a copy of their sample ballot, voters can visit the State Election Board’s website.