Student Voting Project | Oklahoma

Voting at School

ID Requirements

Only first-time voters who register by mail have to show ID. These voters may submit a copy of their identification with their application or show ID when they vote. Valid ID includes a current photo ID or a document with your name and registration address, including a voter ID card (issued by the state election board), utility bill, paycheck, bank statement, government check or other government document with your name and address. Student IDs will not be accepted as photo ID, but cell phone bills and student housing bills, and online printouts of qualifying documents will all be accepted as long as they have your name and address. If you can't show ID, you'll have to vote by provisional ballot, which will be counted if your identity can be verified.

Registration Requirements

Registration ends 24 days before Election Day. Registration applications sent by mail must be postmarked by this date.

Residency Requirements

Under Oklahoma law, the most important factor in determining whether you're a resident for voting purposes is your intent to leave your old home and establish a new one. If you move to school intending to make a home there and do not intend to move back to the place you came from (i.e., your parent's house), you should be able to establish residency in Oklahoma.

Students who lived in Oklahoma before moving elsewhere to attend school, and who wish to establish or keep their Oklahoma voting residency (i.e., at their parents' Oklahoma address), should have no problem doing so unless they've already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, Oklahoma allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the district to attend school, and the only way you might lose this residency is by establishing residency in a new state. While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered an abandonment of your Oklahoma residency, some judges or officials might view it as such.

Absentee Requirement

Any registered voter may vote absentee. Your absentee ballot request must be received by 5:00 p.m. on the Wednesday before Election Day. The blank application is available online at the web side of the Board of Elections-you can both mail and fax the application. The application doesn't have to be witnessed.

When you fill out your absentee ballot, you will also have to fill out the accompanying affidavit and have that affidavit notarized. Your county election board must receive your absentee ballot by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.

Voting at Home

ID Requirements

Only first-time voters who register by mail have to show ID. These voters may submit a copy of their identification with their application or show ID when they vote. Valid ID includes a current photo ID or a document with your name and registration address, including a voter ID card (issued by the state election board), utility bill, paycheck, bank statement, government check or other government document with your name and address. Student IDs will not be accepted as photo ID, but cell phone bills and student housing bills, and online printouts of qualifying documents will all be accepted as long as they have your name and address. If you can't show ID, you'll have to vote by provisional ballot, which will be counted if your identity can be verified.

Registration Requirements

Registration ends 24 days before Election Day. Registration applications sent by mail must be postmarked by this date.

Residency Requirements

Under Oklahoma law, the most important factor in determining whether you're a resident for voting purposes is your intent to leave your old home and establish a new one. If you move to school intending to make a home there and do not intend to move back to the place you came from (i.e., your parent's house), you should be able to establish residency in Oklahoma.

Students who lived in Oklahoma before moving elsewhere to attend school, and who wish to establish or keep their Oklahoma voting residency (i.e., at their parents' Oklahoma address), should have no problem doing so unless they've already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, Oklahoma allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the district to attend school, and the only way you might lose this residency is by establishing residency in a new state. While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered an abandonment of your Oklahoma residency, some judges or officials might view it as such.

Absentee Requirement

Any registered voter may vote absentee. Your absentee ballot request must be received by 5:00 p.m. on the Wednesday before Election Day. The blank application is available online at the web side of the Board of Elections-you can both mail and fax the application. The application doesn't have to be witnessed.

When you fill out your absentee ballot, you will also have to fill out the accompanying affidavit and have that affidavit notarized. Your county election board must receive your absentee ballot by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.

[1] Oklahoma Constitution Art. 3, § 1  

[2] Okl. Stat. Ann. tit. 26, § 4-110.1 (West 2007).

[3] Id.

[4] Okl. Stat. Ann. tit. 26, § 7-115.2 (West 2007).

[5] Id.

[6] Interview with Vada Holstein, Information Officer, Oklahoma State Elections Board (July 9, 2008).

[7] Okl. Stat. Ann. tit. 26, § 7-115.2 (West 2007).

[8] Okl. Stat. Ann. tit. 26, § 14-105 (West 2007).

[9] Okl. Stat. Ann. tit. 26, § 14-103 (West 2007).

[10] Okl. Stat. Ann. tit. 26, § 14-108 (West 2007).

[11] Okl. Stat. Ann. tit. 26, § 14-104 (West 2007).