Speaker 1: Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome.
Speaker 1: Media's time now for our community connection right here on
Speaker 1: K one, the one you trust. I'm Tom Davis. We
Speaker 1: have Fran in here with us from the LEGO. But
Speaker 1: women voters, how you doing today?
Speaker 2: Oh? Just fine.
Speaker 1: It's always great to have you in here because we
Speaker 1: always learn something, and today we're going to learn about
Speaker 1: something sort of new.
Speaker 2: Well, the League is going to be sponsoring a program
Speaker 2: next Tuesday night for all of us to learn about
Speaker 2: open primaries. That's where it doesn't matter whether you are Republican, Democrat,
Speaker 2: or independent, but you can vote in the primary and
Speaker 2: then the idea is that the top two vote getters
Speaker 2: will be on the ballot when it comes down to
Speaker 2: the actual voting whenever that is.
Speaker 1: That's a little different to a type of open primary
Speaker 1: that I think I remember from a long time back.
Speaker 1: But it's different, but it's good.
Speaker 2: Well, you said you had lived in states that had
Speaker 2: open primaries, but that it's a new thing for Oklahoma,
Speaker 2: so we need to learn about it pros and cons.
Speaker 2: And that's why two people from Oklahoma United are going
Speaker 2: to be coming to Bartlesville next Tuesday night down to
Speaker 2: the public library and they'll tell us about it.
Speaker 1: Well, that'd be great. Fact, I think we have one.
Speaker 1: Margaret Cobas is on the line, and Margaret, how are
Speaker 1: you today?
Speaker 3: I am fabulous. I'm so excited about going to Bartlesville.
Speaker 1: Well, you ought to be. It's a great town. You
Speaker 1: ought to come by here and spend more time to
Speaker 1: have it.
Speaker 3: No, I've been going to Bartlesville my whole life, and
Speaker 3: I love it. And I think you guys are awesome
Speaker 3: and have a such a special heritage, and I just
Speaker 3: can't wait to meet lots of people.
Speaker 1: Margaret, tell us a little bit about this proposal for
Speaker 1: an open primary as we're seeing it here on paper.
Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit more about the intricacies, please, right.
Speaker 3: So, I'm very happy that you actually touched on a
Speaker 3: couple of things about open primaries that are really important.
Speaker 3: Number One, Oklahoma United is a nonpartisan grassroots group that
Speaker 3: I founded in twenty twenty one as a way to
Speaker 3: try to find out what's going on in Oklahoma with
Speaker 3: US not voting and we have low turnout. We've been
Speaker 3: last in the country for a long time. We were
Speaker 3: last in the US and voter turnout in twenty twenty
Speaker 3: but then we fell even further in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3: So for the last four years, Oklahoma United has been
Speaker 3: conducting polls and research and listening sessions all over the
Speaker 3: state and at any place we can find people and
Speaker 3: asking a question like why aren't we voting? What's going
Speaker 3: on here? And the resounding reply was that people just
Speaker 3: don't feel like they matter. And we have a situation
Speaker 3: where in twenty twenty two midterms, ninety four percent of
Speaker 3: the races in the twenty twenty two elections were considered
Speaker 3: non competitive, so there were either no choices or the
Speaker 3: choice was made in a single party primary. And that's
Speaker 3: across the state of Oklahoma. So you can see why
Speaker 3: people feel like their voices don't matter when they kind
Speaker 3: of don't matter. And when you reverse engineer it, you
Speaker 3: really get very quickly to the primary system. We are
Speaker 3: only one of twelve states that has a closed primary system.
Speaker 3: That means that while we are last in voter turnout,
Speaker 3: we are tolerating a system that excludes half a million
Speaker 3: now the fastest growing group of voters in Oklahoma and
Speaker 3: across the US, and that is the group of people
Speaker 3: who register independent. So while we want to be better
Speaker 3: about voter participation and turnout. The first thing I think
Speaker 3: we have found is that we just need to start
Speaker 3: by letting everybody vote right, And that's just kind of
Speaker 3: common sense. We've got these people who are registered to vote,
Speaker 3: they want to vote, and we just need to start
Speaker 3: with that. So our research actually led us further, and
Speaker 3: that is that people in Oklahoma have been telling us
Speaker 3: not only do they want independence to be able to
Speaker 3: have a full right to vote in the elections that
Speaker 3: we are all paying for, by the way, but they
Speaker 3: also actually don't even want separate primaries anymore. You know,
Speaker 3: our world is very divided, and yet we know that statewide,
Speaker 3: we all share a lot of common goals with regards
Speaker 3: to schools and roads and bridges and you know, the
Speaker 3: infrastructure and the economic opportunities that we want. We all
Speaker 3: want them and they are not partisan issues. So a
Speaker 3: lot of Oklahoma's have been saying, why don't we just
Speaker 3: all have one ballot. We'll just have one primary, we
Speaker 3: all vote on it. It's like high school, It's like
Speaker 3: every city in town in Oklahoma already does. And let's
Speaker 3: just do that and simplify the system and get everybody
Speaker 3: in it and then all of the candidates would face
Speaker 3: all the voters, and all the voters will get to
Speaker 3: have the same menu in front of them.
Speaker 1: That's interesting because I don't recall anybody being prevented from voting.
Speaker 1: But as you say, if you are an independent, where
Speaker 1: are you going to go on primary day? So therefore
Speaker 1: you are left out in the cold.
Speaker 3: Right when I say prevented, what I mean is a
Speaker 3: closed primary system actually has taxpayer funded primaries in which
Speaker 3: parties are permitted to exclude the public. So if you
Speaker 3: are wanting if you don't want to register in a
Speaker 3: party for whatever reason, and I say that as a
Speaker 3: registered Republican myself, but if I were, you know, you
Speaker 3: want to register with a party that makes your heart's saying,
Speaker 3: and if it doesn't, then you might still want to vote.
Speaker 1: But you.
Speaker 3: Have the ability and the right to register as an independent.
Speaker 3: So many of our elections, like eighty four percent were
Speaker 3: in twenty four, were decided in partisan primaries, and in fact,
Speaker 3: certain elections like county sheriff races were seventy six out
Speaker 3: of seventy seven counties didn't even have a general election
Speaker 3: for sheriff. So when I'm saying that independents are prohibited
Speaker 3: from voting. I mean that this system does not permit
Speaker 3: an independent to participate fully in all elections.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that clarity. Now, we've got a big event
Speaker 1: coming up brand and again it's going to be at
Speaker 1: the library.
Speaker 2: Well, you mean the meeting yes week, Yes, next Tuesday night.
Speaker 2: Legal Women Voters mandate is to try to encourage participation
Speaker 2: in our voting process. So this is a very important
Speaker 2: topic for us to learn about. And at the library
Speaker 2: room A upstairs, if you come at six thirty, there
Speaker 2: will be informal time with refreshments, and then the program
Speaker 2: starts at seven and we have not only Margaret speaking,
Speaker 2: but also Pat McFerrin, who is a strategist for Oklahoma United,
Speaker 2: and he will be talking about the process they're going
Speaker 2: through to get ready for the state Question eight thirty six,
Speaker 2: which will be collecting signatures in the hope that we
Speaker 2: can get it on the ballot.
Speaker 1: So there is a process, we learn about it, the
Speaker 1: ask for signatures takes place, and then we see where
Speaker 1: it goes from there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they'll explain what the timeline is and how many
Speaker 2: signatures they have to collect and things like that.
Speaker 1: Margaret, this is why I hang out with fran you know,
Speaker 1: she's kind of like that. She can point me to
Speaker 1: the information I need.
Speaker 3: Well, we love that, and we we're just so excited
Speaker 3: to be able to take questions from the public because
Speaker 3: that's the mission of Oklahoma United is very aligned with
Speaker 3: the legal woman voters, and that we're not trying to
Speaker 3: create a nail for a hammer. We're trying to answer
Speaker 3: a problem that I think is widely acknowledged in Oklahoma
Speaker 3: with a common sense solution.
Speaker 2: That's that's going to be very interesting to learn about.
Speaker 2: Imagine there are some cons as well as some pros,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure that you've looked into that in the
Speaker 2: many states that now have open primaries. So we'll look
Speaker 2: forward to being informed about that so that voters can
Speaker 2: make up their minds about whether they want to sign
Speaker 2: the petition, whether they want to see this take place
Speaker 2: in Oklahoma. I can repeat that's next Tuesday, six point
Speaker 2: thirty for refreshments and to meet people, and seven o'clock
Speaker 2: for the program in Room A upstairs at our wonderful
Speaker 2: public library.
Speaker 1: And Margaret, we look forward to having me have both
Speaker 1: you and the partner there with us and really letting
Speaker 1: people fully understand what this idea encompasses. Like I told Fran,
Speaker 1: I've lived in that in a state where they had
Speaker 1: the open primaries, and you know they it took a
Speaker 1: while for people to get used to it. But I
Speaker 1: guess whenever something changes, there's always that learning girl.
Speaker 3: Well, I remember when my mother moved the cereal bowls
Speaker 3: in the cabinet. I was very upset when I was little.
Speaker 3: But you know, times are different now. And when we're
Speaker 3: talking about independent voters, we're talking about our children and
Speaker 3: our grandchildren, and our military people, the large majority of
Speaker 3: which all register tend to register as independent. And you know,
Speaker 3: we have to be able. I say this sometimes our
Speaker 3: job is to enable our children and the future generations
Speaker 3: to govern themselves in a strong democracy, and we need
Speaker 3: to restore or build I would say, faith and government.
Speaker 3: And so I don't really see a downside to this.
Speaker 3: I'm all powered to the people, and I just think
Speaker 3: that Oklahomas share a lot of the same concerns on
Speaker 3: a state level, and we see this as something that
Speaker 3: the people of Oklahoma seem to really respond well to.
Speaker 1: This is going to be really interesting, Frand I tell you,
Speaker 1: it is really amazing how the League of Women Voters
Speaker 1: are able to identify different things coming down the pipe
Speaker 1: and really bring it to the forefront for not only
Speaker 1: people to listen, but to ask questions. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think the Great American Discussion is going to be
Speaker 1: at the library.
Speaker 2: Yes, indeed, we're very proud to be able to use
Speaker 2: the free meeting room at the library for public, nonprofit
Speaker 2: events like this so that people can meet the speakers
Speaker 2: and talk with them and ask questions and inform ourselves
Speaker 2: on how to make our country stronger.
Speaker 1: Very good, Very good. Well, you know, this is going
Speaker 1: to be an exciting an affair and once again we're
Speaker 1: going to learn about this process called open primary. If
Speaker 1: you've not lived in another state where you've had this,
Speaker 1: it is well worth the time and attention. If you
Speaker 1: have any questions or any curiosity. I think there's a
Speaker 1: lot of people going to be more curious than anything.
Speaker 2: Else for him, because this is a new thing for
Speaker 2: our state. It's kind of a new concept to wrap
Speaker 2: our heads around. But I think especially I hope independent
Speaker 2: voters will come because this is especially relevant for them.
Speaker 1: I think they're, like Margaret said, they're more out there
Speaker 1: than you know who are independent. They like certain things
Speaker 1: on certain menus and certain things on other menus, and
Speaker 1: they prefer to do their voting.
Speaker 2: A lakarte and this is a way so that they
Speaker 2: would have more choice when it comes down to actually voting, because,
Speaker 2: as Margaret said, so many of our elections have been
Speaker 2: limited to whoever survived the primary.
Speaker 3: You know, we have a lot of spokespeople advocates for
Speaker 3: this proposal who are very committed party members. We just
Speaker 3: see more choices in this system for everyone, not just
Speaker 3: the independence but also the party members as well. And
Speaker 3: you know, I don't think that people are concerned about
Speaker 3: having too many choices in a system that's often not
Speaker 3: even fielding more than one candidate. So, you know, we
Speaker 3: just want to open this up and get more people
Speaker 3: excited about public service and being part of solutions and
Speaker 3: the talent school that make Oklahoma great.
Speaker 1: Margaret, do you have a website that folks can read
Speaker 1: up on your group there or maybe a Facebook page?
Speaker 3: You bet we have. The Oklahoma United website is Okay
Speaker 3: hyphen United dot org. But there's also a State Question
Speaker 3: eight thirty six website which is vote Yes eight three
Speaker 3: six dot com. And both of those have information and
Speaker 3: since I'm the founder of Oklahoma United. I'm more familiar
Speaker 3: with that one, but lots of information about statistics of
Speaker 3: Oklahoma elections, how to open primaries work, and the differences
Speaker 3: between a closed and an open system.
Speaker 1: Very good and Frand, once again, i'd like to ask
Speaker 1: you to repeat the meeting time and where folks can
Speaker 1: find out more information.
Speaker 2: Yes, it's next Tuesday, February eleventh, at six point thirty
Speaker 2: for casual meeting people and talking and refreshments, and then
Speaker 2: seven o'clock for the program. It will be at the
Speaker 2: Bartlesviill Public Library upstairs in Room A. There is an elevator.
Speaker 1: Wonderful. I like that. My knees are just thanking you
Speaker 1: right now, Margaret and Fran, I want to thank you
Speaker 1: both for being here with us today on our community
Speaker 1: connection right here on K one, the one you trust