I voted by mail yesterday for Hillary Clinton.
As you might expect, the great state of Oklahoma does not make it especially easy to vote by mail. It’s true you can request a mail-in ballot online, which I did. It took only two days for it to arrive. However, before you mail it back you must have the envelope containing your ballot notarized. Also, you must mail it back, you can’t drop it off at the County Election Board.
About a mile from where I live there’s a combination post office/”tag agency.” In Oklahoma, you don’t register a new car or buy your “tag” (we called it a “licence” or a “plate” in Iowa) from a government agency. Instead, you go to a private entity authorized by the state to collect those fees on their behalf. this is even where you go to get your driver’s license renewed.
Since tag agencies register new vehicles, I knew they would have a notary public. Since they are also a post office, I thought it would be more or less convenient: have my ballot notarized and mailed in one place. Except that person at the agency—who was pretty snotty—told me “they don’t do those.” When I asked why, she said, “our choice.”
Nice.
So I went to my bank and got my ballot notarized. They were really nice about it—no waiting at all. Then I went to a different post office to mail it in. Needless to say, I will never return to the tag agency where I made my first attempt and where I had been a customer for 16 years.
Back to voting. I couldn’t bring myself to vote straight-party Democratic because I personally know the person who lucked into the senate nomination. He’s a total flake and would be an embarrassment if he won. Instead, we had a excellent progressive independent candidate, Sean Braddy, so I voted for him.
Oklahoma also has seven state questions, some good and some horrible. The worst would repeal a section of the state constitution that forbids state funds being spent in support of religion. This arose because of a “ten commandments” monument on the state capital grounds. It might actually fail, with even religious conservatives divided on it. The other horrible question, sponsored by big agribusiness and spun as a “right to farm” would make regulation of agricultural pollution almost impossible in the state, jeopardizing municipal water supplies. It seems likely to fail despite high-profile endorsements from both GOP senators.
Other state questions deal with creating an additional 1% sales tax with revenues dedicated to education—especially important after the legislature’s reckless cutting of the tax base over recent years. This seems likely to pass. (I know: I don’t like regressive sales taxes either, but polling last spring showed that only a sales tax would likely pass this November.) Also likely to pass are a modernization of Oklahoma liquor laws (yeah! I might actually be able to order wine online), and decriminalization of minor drug offenses. A separate question would redirect the savings from the reduction in drug incarcerations to drug rehab programs. The last is polling well, but not as well as the others.
Oklahoma State Questions
Sean Braddy Website
Sooner Poll