With two weeks remaining until the May 10 Norman City Council Ward 7 runoff election, both candidates are campaigning to improve turnout after the end of the voter-registration period.

A total of 44 Norman residents have registered to vote in Ward 7 since the initial March 1 election, according to the Cleveland County Election Board’s voter mailing list. The list also includes 34 residents who changed their address information to another ward district.

At least 18 Ward 7 residents who met the April 15 registration deadline are OU students, according to the list.

Candidate Stephen Tyler Holman said he helped some of those students register for the first time, including students he and opponent Linda Lockett met at Student Congress’ City Council Candidate Forum on April 6 in Couch Center.

Holman, a local music-event organizer who grew up in Norman, organized voter registration drives to raise awareness of both his campaign and the runoff.

Holman, along with campaign volunteers, knocked on as many doors as they could to encourage voter turnout, he said.

Holman said his biggest challenge would be getting voters to the polls.

“Every vote cast matters,” Holman said.

Out of the 7,293 registered Ward 7 voters, 342, or 4.7 percent, voted in the City Council election on March 1. Of this 4.7 percent, no candidate received a majority, forcing a runoff election.

Lockett received 164 votes, while Holman and former candidate Brande Kauffman both received 89 votes.

Lockett needed eight more votes to receive a majority in the election.

“I think the big thing is to turn [voters] out,” Lockett said. “I’m not worried. I feel very comfortable, and I’ve done what I can. I think I’ve worked very, very hard and that’s the main thing to do.”

Lockett, a longtime Norman businesswoman, has focused her campaign on knocking on doors to give the public a sense of who she is.

Lockett and Holman both say motivating voters to show up is especially difficult because their election is the only item on the ballot.

Holman and Lockett are both former OU students whose ward includes all of OU’s Norman campus.

To determine if you live within Ward 7 boundaries, consult thecity ward maps

BY THE NUMBERS:
» Total registered Ward 7 voters (as of April 15): 7,303 residents
» Newly registered: 44
» Democrats: 20
» Republicans: 12
» Independents: 6
—Source: Cleveland County Election Board voter mailing list, April 18