SECTION 230:20-3-32.1. Declarations of Candidacy shall not be accepted outside the prescribed hours of the candidate filing period

(a)   Declarations of Candidacy shall not be accepted by the Secretary of the State Election Board or the Secretary of a County Election Board prior to 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m. on any day of a candidate filing period. A Declaration of Candidacy shall not be accepted unless it is in the hands of the Secretary of the appropriate Election Board by 5 p.m. on the last day of the candidate filing period. However, the Secretary of the appropriate Election Board may accept a Declaration of Candidacy after 5 p.m. on the last day of filing from a candidate or an agent of a candidate who arrives at the appropriate Election Board prior to 5 p.m. with all required pages of a Declaration of Candidacy completed, signed, and notarized, as outlined in 230:20-3-4 through 230:20-3-6, and either a cashier's check or certified check in the correct amount for the office sought or a petition bearing the signatures of the required number of registered voters, as described in 230:20-3-33 and in 230:20-9-1 through 230:20-9-4. A Declaration of Candidacy received by the Secretary of the appropriate Election Board through the United States mail or from a private parcel delivery service after 5 p.m. on the last day of the filing period shall not be accepted.

(b)   The Secretary of the State Election Board and the Secretary of the County Election Board are advised to refer to the official United States government time to establish the correct time and to announce the opening of the filing period at 8 a.m. and the closing of the filing period at exactly 5 p.m. each day. Official United States government time is kept by the United States Naval Observatory and by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The official time may be viewed online at https://time.gov.

[Source: Added at 35 Ok Reg 565, eff 3-15-18 (emergency); Added at 35 Ok Reg 1203, eff 9-14-18]