SECTION 230:15-9-22. Processing applications for change of political affiliation

(a)   A registered voter in the county may apply to change his or her political affiliation by completing and submitting a paper voter registration application form. An applicant for change of political affiliation is instructed to indicate his or her former political affiliation in the appropriate space in Section 9 of the Oklahoma Voter Registration Application form. Applications for change of political affiliation shall be processed according to the following procedure.

(1)   Enter the applicant's name, date of birth, Oklahoma driver license number or the last four digits of the Social Security number to locate the applicant's current voter registration information.

(2)   Change the applicant's political affiliation as indicated on the application form. Carefully examine the information displayed on screen with the information provided on the application form for any other information that may be changed. Enter all other changes indicated on the application form.

(3)   Follow the appropriate software instructions to complete the application information in MESA.

(4)   After the voter identification card has been printed, remove the voter's old registration form from the Central File and retain as outlined in 230:10-7-43.

(5)   File the voter's new voter registration application form in alphabetical order in the Central File.

(b)   Voters are prohibited by law from changing political affiliation during the period from April 1 through August 31, inclusive, in even-numbered years. See 230:15-5-30. Applications for change of political affiliation received during this period shall be held and activated on or after September 1. See 230:15-9-22.1.

(c)   Voters who were designated Independent by County Election Board personnel as provided in 230:15-5-84 may declare a political affiliation at any time by submitting a new voter registration application form, which shall be subject to the same election-related deadlines and even-numbered year party changes as all other applications described in (b) of this Section.

(d)   The political affiliations of voters who are registered as members of a political party that loses recognition under Oklahoma law and becomes a political organization as described in 230:15-5-79 shall be changed to Independent in the voter registration database by the State Election Board. [26:1-110] Such voters subsequently shall be entitled to apply to change their political affiliation to that of the political organization. Such applications shall be processed as outlined in (a) of this Section and shall be subject to the deadline for voter registration applications prior to an election and to the political affiliation change prohibition period in even-numbered years. See (b) of this Section and 230:15-5-86.

[Source: Added at 12 Ok Reg 2225, eff 7-1-95; Amended at 13 Ok Reg 2475, eff 7-1-96; 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 18 Ok Reg 1862, eff 7-1-01; Amended at 21 Ok Reg 547, eff 2-3-04 (emergency); Amended at 22 Ok Reg 1859, eff 7-1-05; Amended at 27 Ok Reg 1124, eff 6-1-10; Amended at 28 Ok Reg 1132, eff 7-1-11; Amended at 35 Ok Reg 1185, eff 9-14-18]