Voters across the country have to make many choices today, but
some options won’t be available to Oklahomans. No third-party
presidential candidates are on Oklahoma’s ballot this
year.

Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate; David Cobb, the
Green Party candidate; and Ralph Nader, who is running as an
independent, were all unable to secure spots on Oklahoma’s
ballot. Oklahoma and New Hampshire are the only states where
Badnarik is not in the presidential race. A representative for
Badnarik’s campaign said Oklahoma’s
“onerous” election laws are to blame.

“I think people in Oklahoma have been cheated by their
state government,” said Fred Collins, campaign manager for
Badnarik Campaign 2004. “Their choices have been limited to
Democrats and Republicans.”

Michael Clingman, secretary of the Oklahoma State Election
Board, said potential third-party candidates for president need to
get signatures equal to 3 percent of voters in the last Oklahoma
general election to get on the ballot as independents and 5 percent
to gain party status. He said Badnarik, who was seeking party
status with the Libertarian Party, would have needed 51,781
signatures this year but only came up with about 20,000.

Clingman also said Oklahoma does not allow write-in votes, so
candidates who don’t make it onto the ballot cannot be a part
of the presidential race.

“It’s a legislative decision,” Clingman said
of the ballot access rules. “It’s not as if the
election system decides this; we’re just following the
law.”

Gary Copeland, professor of political science, said
Oklahoma’s tough election laws can cause problems.

“The consequence of making it difficult for third-party
candidates to get on the ballot is, one, you’ll have some
voters who feel disaffected,” Copeland said. He said these
voters may decide not to vote at all.

“The other consequence is it tends to force people to
support one of the two major parties, and it tends to perpetuate
the two-party system,” Copeland said.

Melody Bradley, classics and sociology junior, said she is one
of the disaffected voters Copeland mentioned. She said she is a
Badnarik supporter from Georgia and voted by absentee ballot there
this year, although she considered registering in Oklahoma.

“I’m very glad that I didn’t just because I
wouldn’t be able to vote for the person I support,”
Bradley said.

She said dissatisfaction with the major party candidates drove
her to vote for Badnarik.

“I dislike Bush and Kerry equally,” Bradley said.
“If there was a candidate I could honestly support instead of
the Libertarian, I would have considered voting that way, but not
under the circumstances.”

James M. Branum, co-chairman of the Oklahoma Green Party,
founded an organization called None of the Above for Oklahoma to
protest the limited choices. Branum said the group is a coalition
of the Green Party, Oklahoma Libertarians and Oklahoma Constitution
Party supporters.

“A lot of us were frustrated that we couldn’t vote
for the candidate of our choice,” Branum said. He said the
group is encouraging supporters of third-party candidates to vote
but to leave the presidential portion of the ballot blank. NOTA4OK
is also planning to hold protests in Tulsa, Muskogee and Oklahoma
City today to raise public awareness of the issue.

“This is a civil rights issue,” Branum said.
“People can’t be free if they can’t
vote.”

Branum said his organization is actually encouraging voter
turnout. He said he thinks voters should go to the polls to decide
some important state questions and other close races in Oklahoma
even if they can’t vote for their favorite presidential
candidates. He said he hopes to see 25,000 to 50,000 people vote
without choosing a presidential candidate.

“We don’t want people to stay home,” Branum
said. “Part of what we are is encouraging voting.”

Collins and Branum both said they hope to change Oklahoma
election laws for future elections. Collins said similar movements
have already had success easing election laws in Michigan and
Florida.

“One of the things the Libertarians plan on working on is
approaching the legislature and trying to change the laws in places
where they have these onerous restrictions,” Collins
said.
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