Oklahomans add voter ID requirements to state constitution

OKLAHOMA CITY —Oklahoma’s state Constitution will now include voter identification requirements. 

With nearly 55% support in Tuesday’s election, voters approved State Question 846. 

The state question posed by lawmakers asked voters to amend the state Constitution to require voter identification and give the Legislature the ability to enact laws later to specify ID requirements. 

State law already required one of three forms of identification, but supporters said it was important to enshrine the requirement into the Constitution.

It is more difficult to make changes to the Oklahoma Constitution than to state statute, so any future changes to the state’s voter ID laws will now require a vote of the people/would require a vote of the people if the measure passed.

Critics of the measure said it would give lawmakers greater authority over Oklahoma election law and could, even unintentionally, allow for the Legislature to pass stricter identification requirements that could disenfranchise Oklahomans. 

House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, and Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, authored the legislation that placed SQ846 on Tuesday’s ballot. 

Paxton previously said the measure was needed to ensure future lawmakers didn’t remove voter ID requirements without a vote of the people.