SECTION 230:15-5-84. Information required on voter registration application

(a)   A person who is eligible to register to vote and who applies for voter registration shall be required to provide the information listed in (b) of this Section on a voter registration application form. Voter registration applications that contain all the required information shall be valid applications and shall be approved by the Secretary of the County Election Board and the applicant shall become a registered voter in the county. An application that does not contain the required information, except as provided in (c) and (d) of this Section, shall not be a valid application and shall be rejected.

(b)   A valid voter registration application shall contain the following information.

(1)   Applicant's full name.

(2)   Applicant's date of birth.

(3)   Applicant's county of residence. (See exception provided in (d) of this Section.)

(4)   Applicant's residence address. (See (e) of this Section.)

(5)   Applicant's mailing address. (See (f) of this Section.)

(6)   Applicant's political affiliation. (See exception provided in (c) of this Section.)

(7)   Applicant's Oklahoma driver license number, state identification card number, or the last four digits of applicant's Social Security number, or a check mark in the appropriate box to indicate that the applicant does not have an Oklahoma driver license, state identification card, or Social Security number. If the applicant submitted an older version of the Oklahoma Voter Registration Application form that does not include the check box to indicate that he or she does not have these identification numbers, the application shall not be considered valid if one of these numbers is not included. See 230:15-9-18.

(8)   Applicant's original signature or applicant's original mark, as defined in subsection (c) of this Section.

(9)   Name and address of person who helped applicant complete application if applicant is unable to complete it unassisted.

(10)   Check marks in the "yes" boxes that accompany questions concerning applicant's age and citizenship status as required by federal law. [42 USC 15483(b)(4)(A)] If an applicant has checked the "no" boxes that accompany these questions, the application shall not be considered valid. (On older versions of the Oklahoma Voter Registration Application form, these questions appeared in the information and instruction portion of the form.) If an applicant did not answer these two questions but did sign and date the oath, the application shall be accepted if it is otherwise valid.

(11)   An oath requiring the applicant to swear or affirm his or her eligibility for voter registration.

(c)   A voter registration application shall be signed by the applicant in writing. [26:4-112(A)] The applicant shall personally subscribe his or her name to or make his or her mark on the application, and no agent, representative or employee of the applicant may sign or mark on the applicant's behalf. [26:4-112(A)] The signature or mark must be the original, handwritten signature, autograph or mark of the applicant. [26:4-112(A)] No facsimile, reproduction, typewritten or other substitute signature, autograph or mark will be valid. [26:4-112(A)] A signature created electronically and applied to a voter registration application by remote pen technology or by any other electronic means shall not be a valid signature on a voter registration application form unless otherwise provided by federal or state law. The signature requirements described in this subsection are applicable to both the Oklahoma Voter Registration Application form and to the federal voter registration application form.

(d)   An application for new voter registration that is valid in all other respects shall not be rejected because the applicant has made one of the errors listed below when indicating a political affiliation. County Election Board personnel shall be authorized to designate an applicant as an Independent if one of the errors listed below appears on an otherwise valid voter registration application form. A voter designated Independent by County Election Board personnel for one of the following reasons shall be entitled to declare a political affiliation at any time, even during the period beginning April 1 and ending August 31, inclusive, in even-numbered years when changes of political affiliation otherwise are prohibited. Such declarations of political affiliation shall be subject to the voter registration application deadline preceding an election. See 230:15-5-86.

(1)   The applicant left the space on the application form for political affiliation blank.

(2)   The applicant indicated more than one political affiliation and the applicant's intention cannot be determined.

(3)   The applicant wrote the name of a political party or political organization not currently recognized in Oklahoma. See 230:15-5-77 and 230:15-5-79.

(e)   An applicant for voter registration shall indicate the name of the county in which he or she resides on the application form. However, if an applicant fails to indicate his or her county of residence, the Secretary of the County Election Board shall not reject the application solely for this reason if the residence address provided by the applicant in fact is located within the county.

(f)   An applicant for voter registration must provide his or her address of residence. If the applicant has a street address (a street name and number, an apartment or suite number, if applicable, and zip code), that is the applicant's address of residence. [26:4-112] If the applicant does not have a street address, a physical description of the location of the residence that can be used to pinpoint the residence on a map must be provided. The applicant may provide a 911 address or may provide the legal description (a Section-Township-Range description, including the appropriate quarter section or quarter-quarter section designation). Neither a rural route address nor a post office box address is acceptable as an address of residence for voter registration purposes. A voter registration application that does not include an address of residence sufficient to locate the residence on a map shall be rejected by the Secretary of the County Election Board.

(g)   A mailing address must include the city and zip code. An emergency notification address, or 911 address, a rural route and box number, a post office box, or a street address all constitute valid mailing addresses for voter registration purposes. [26:4-112] If an applicant's mailing address is the same as the applicant's residence address, the space for mailing address may be left blank.

[Source: Added at 12 Ok Reg 2197, eff 7-1-95; Amended at 14 Ok Reg 2624, eff 7-1-97; Amended at 16 Ok Reg 522, eff 1-1-99 (emergency); Amended at 16 Ok Reg 2404, eff 7-1-99; Amended at 17 Ok Reg 2340, eff 7-1-00; Amended at 20 Ok Reg 470, eff 1-2-03 (emergency); Amended at 20 Ok Reg 1087, eff 7-1-03; Amended at 22 Ok Reg 1859, eff 7-1-05; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 1913, eff 7-1-08; Amended at 28 Ok Reg 1132, eff 7-1-11; Amended at 30 Ok Reg 1631, eff 7-15-13; Amended at 32 Ok Reg 1733, eff 9-11-15]