Speaker 1: Welcome me in his time now for our community connection
Speaker 1: right here on K one, the one you trust. And
Speaker 1: today we are talking with the legal Women Voters. The
Speaker 1: woman fran is with us today. How you doing today,
Speaker 1: young lady?
Speaker 2: Oh, just fine, beautiful weather it is.
Speaker 1: It is dandy out there now. You just came off
Speaker 1: of a nice program last night. Tell us a little
Speaker 1: bit about that.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, yesterday evening at the public library we had
Speaker 2: Randy o'darn column. Oh Crable, ye, Crable, that's it. Yes,
Speaker 2: he is a reporter with a Tulsa World and he
Speaker 2: talked with us about dark money in politics.
Speaker 3: There's a little bit going around.
Speaker 2: One hears about that. Yes, and of course the problem
Speaker 2: is it is dark so you don't.
Speaker 3: Really know, but you don't know who's writing the checks.
Speaker 2: That's it. That's the thing about it. It's it's ways
Speaker 2: of setting up funds so that you can't you don't
Speaker 2: have to acknowledge who the donors are. And I believe
Speaker 2: there are no limits also on how much they can donate.
Speaker 2: And then those groups are able to buy advertising and
Speaker 2: all kinds of things.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they do it, absolutely do it.
Speaker 1: Big thing that the League of Women Voters have been
Speaker 1: working on. Of course you're known for. This is voter registration.
Speaker 1: I understand you went to the high school recently.
Speaker 2: Well, we had people at the high schools just recently,
Speaker 2: and I wish i'd written down the number. Yes, I
Speaker 2: guess it was yesterday. They had at least twenty young
Speaker 2: people register because if you're going to be eighteen by
Speaker 2: November fifth, you can register in advance and you will
Speaker 2: be able to vote. So they went to the high school.
Speaker 2: But they've also been at the public library, They've been
Speaker 2: at the Farmer's Market downtown. They've been over at Tri County,
Speaker 2: the West Side Center and Green Country Village giving people
Speaker 2: the forms to register.
Speaker 3: Wow, so you guys have been busy.
Speaker 2: Well, that's one of our main efforts.
Speaker 1: Yes, indeed, And of course I hear we have an
Speaker 1: election coming up.
Speaker 2: One does hear some things about what's going on in October.
Speaker 3: We have a big program this month.
Speaker 2: Right, there's another program. Yeah, October first we had Randy
Speaker 2: Crable and October fifteenth, also at the public library. Our
Speaker 2: municipal Judge Alan Genkis has research about the electoral college,
Speaker 2: which is a system that I suppose my civic teacher
Speaker 2: in high school tried to explain to me, but it
Speaker 2: never quite made a lot of sense. We all need
Speaker 2: a pressure course, absolutely, and so he's researched about it
Speaker 2: and he's going to tell us about its history and
Speaker 2: how it works and the effect that it has on
Speaker 2: presidential elections because there have been several in past cycles
Speaker 2: where it was not the majority of popular votes that
Speaker 2: determined the outcome of the election, it was the electoral college.
Speaker 2: And that's why swing states are so important.
Speaker 1: That's where that's why you hear about them so much
Speaker 1: in the news, especially lately, and they especially in presidential politics.
Speaker 3: It's a big deal, it really is.
Speaker 1: So the electoral College, you know, this is going to
Speaker 1: be a good refresher course for anyone and everyone who
Speaker 1: is getting ready to vote.
Speaker 3: So I might think you're going to have a pretty
Speaker 3: good crowd for.
Speaker 2: This, I hope. So we had a really good turnout
Speaker 2: last night. I dragged in all kinds of extra chairs
Speaker 2: to the room.
Speaker 1: Now, with the LLeague of Women Voters, it's all about
Speaker 1: the education and registration.
Speaker 2: That's it. Education and registration. Lead of Women Voters is nonpartisan,
Speaker 2: and in fact, the board members have to agree not
Speaker 2: to take public stands in favor of particular candidates, although
Speaker 2: of course members can do what they want. We have
Speaker 2: new yard signs that say vote, it's your future, but
Speaker 2: they don't say who to vote for.
Speaker 1: No, they just want you to go out and use your.
Speaker 2: Right be actively involved. Because now you were saying that
Speaker 2: Frank Zappa was one of the first verse to quote this.
Speaker 2: But if you didn't vote, you aren't allowed to complain.
Speaker 1: There you go, there you go, because you know, you
Speaker 1: got to have a stake in it.
Speaker 3: You really did.
Speaker 1: And I remember being a younger person and I couldn't wait.
Speaker 1: I thought that was a big deal to vote, because
Speaker 1: it mattered to me. But the odd thing was is
Speaker 1: that a lot of my classmates, well especially in my
Speaker 1: senior year at high school and then in early into college,
Speaker 1: they're like, well, it didn't matter, they're gonna do what
Speaker 1: they're gonna do.
Speaker 3: I said, well, who's they? Well, you know they, I said,
Speaker 3: what you can be a.
Speaker 2: Part of They that's it.
Speaker 3: Now you can be heard.
Speaker 1: And it took them a couple of years, but they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it is kind of important.
Speaker 3: Yes it is. You know.
Speaker 2: Of course there's some you hear about some elections that
Speaker 2: were tipped by just a handful of votes.
Speaker 1: Oh, that happens all the time, especially in local elections.
Speaker 1: And by the way, that's important too, isn't it. We're
Speaker 1: not just talking about the presidential election, aren't we.
Speaker 2: Well, the local elections are very important too, And if
Speaker 2: you want to know what's on the ballot for your
Speaker 2: particular district, you can go to Okay voter portal. That's
Speaker 2: all one word, Okay voter Portal. Just do an online
Speaker 2: search for that and it'll take you to a website
Speaker 2: where you can get a sample ballot for your your
Speaker 2: individual award and see what's on the ballot that you're
Speaker 2: going to have to vote on, because there have to
Speaker 2: be propositions to vote on as well as candidates, and
Speaker 2: you can study it in advance to decide what you're
Speaker 2: going to do, so that you don't have to sit
Speaker 2: there with a magnifying glass and study it while you're there.
Speaker 2: That's right. Also, you can check to make sure that
Speaker 2: your registration is currently valid, because if you haven't voted recently,
Speaker 2: sometimes you get knocked off of the roster. And if
Speaker 2: you've changed your name or moved or anything like that,
Speaker 2: you have until I wrote it down October eleventh. You
Speaker 2: have until October eleventh to reregister and make sure that
Speaker 2: you are valid to participate this time around.
Speaker 3: See, we've got the education to get your registration. There
Speaker 3: we go.
Speaker 1: And this is one of the things where there are
Speaker 1: a lot of things. Others then, like you said, there
Speaker 1: are candidates, there's judge retention questions on there. There's also
Speaker 1: questions that pertain to do different things depending on just
Speaker 1: where you are in the state of Oklahoma and sometimes
Speaker 1: just even in Washington.
Speaker 2: Get me, that's right, because for the like city council,
Speaker 2: we have got you for city council, it depends what
Speaker 2: ward you're in, and so you needn't need to know that.
Speaker 2: And there are some rather strange boundaries drawn for state
Speaker 2: representatives and things like that. You have to know what
Speaker 2: side of the street you're on.
Speaker 1: Frank Phillips Boulevard is one of those divider streets is
Speaker 1: for state representative because on one side it's one section
Speaker 1: and the other one is another house district.
Speaker 3: And it's a it's a it's amazing that's.
Speaker 2: How they draw. Well, they have to draw the line somewhere,
Speaker 2: that's right.
Speaker 3: The dotted line Frank Phillips in my neighborhood, anywhere.
Speaker 2: It's important to know which side you're on so that
Speaker 2: you can can learn about the candidate and decide how
Speaker 2: you want to cast your voat.
Speaker 1: Now, this portal can tell you just about anything. It's
Speaker 1: got a lot of what they call FAQ's, frequently asked questions.
Speaker 3: That's right, so you don't have to sit there and
Speaker 3: scratch your head. Go on, I wonder where this is.
Speaker 2: Just now tell you your polling place too, because those
Speaker 2: those have changed in the last year or two, and
Speaker 2: so you need to turn up at the right place.
Speaker 3: Might be there and nobody's there, and well where'd they go?
Speaker 2: Yeah, but they're open general. I think it's seven am
Speaker 2: to seven pm. That's a long stint for the poll workers,
Speaker 2: bless their hearts.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah.
Speaker 1: And then of course we have where we have the
Speaker 1: early voting option for we do many elections, if not.
Speaker 2: All you can you can on the portal. You can
Speaker 2: request an absentee ballot. If for some reason, you know
Speaker 2: you're going to be out of town on November fifth,
Speaker 2: or if their mobility issues or or some other thing,
Speaker 2: you can get an absentee ballot, but you do have
Speaker 2: to request that in advance.
Speaker 3: Very nice resource to stay in Oklahoma together.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's it's very good. It's something to
Speaker 2: be proud of. And I'm so proud of our voting
Speaker 2: machines that have a paper record as well as the
Speaker 2: digital one, because you remember the hanging chads, are you
Speaker 2: old enough.
Speaker 3: To remember that opened?
Speaker 2: And all kinds of other snaffhoos and then recounts. At
Speaker 2: least we've got paper ballots that they can recount by
Speaker 2: hand if they really want to do that.
Speaker 3: Oh golly. Yeah. You know.
Speaker 1: The thing is it's always good to have, you know,
Speaker 1: two sets, you know, so you can compare and make
Speaker 1: sure that nothing went awry. Its what do you call it?
Speaker 1: Verification and validation?
Speaker 2: Yeah, just in case there's any kind of a challenge.
Speaker 2: And I don't anticipate a challenge in Oklahoma, but there
Speaker 2: are other states that I wish, Yes, yes, I wish
Speaker 2: that some of the states that have had a problem
Speaker 2: before had had our kinds of machines. The idea of
Speaker 2: a touchscreen voting with no physical record at all gives
Speaker 2: me the creeps.
Speaker 3: You're not alone.
Speaker 2: They are hackable, you know. A year or two ago
Speaker 2: there was a hackathon, a conference of people who tried
Speaker 2: to see what they can do with machines, and they
Speaker 2: gave some digital voting machines to some high school students
Speaker 2: who got into them in just a few minutes, and
Speaker 2: we're able to alter the outcomes. So yeah, I like
Speaker 2: our system. I'm proud of Oklahoma.
Speaker 3: Were that to hang in Chad.
Speaker 1: Business took place with Florida, and I was living down
Speaker 1: in Florida and they went to some of the touch
Speaker 1: screens and those got a little wonky. They would the
Speaker 1: screen would just kind of move on you. Oh no,
Speaker 1: and they'd have to they'd have to take it out
Speaker 1: of commission and have somebody come in and get it fixed.
Speaker 3: Can you imagine you're trying.
Speaker 1: To stick your finger on a button and the screen
Speaker 1: is just kind of bouncing around a little bit.
Speaker 3: And so you know, they.
Speaker 2: That was that was in a previous century, wasn't it.
Speaker 1: It was it was like two or two thousand and four, Yeah,
Speaker 1: one two thousand four.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: One hopes. One hopes that the technology has improved.
Speaker 3: They had twenty years to get it better. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't think they're using those anymore down there, because
Speaker 1: oh yeah, they've had their share of trouble.
Speaker 3: So I'm not going to kick them too hard. But anyway,
Speaker 3: this is great.
Speaker 1: So if we want to know more about the League
Speaker 1: of Women Voters and some of the different educational events
Speaker 1: that you're hosting, how can we find out more?
Speaker 2: Fran Oh, I should have looked that up, but I'm
Speaker 2: sure we we have a state website as well as
Speaker 2: the national website. You can find out about Yeah, you
Speaker 2: can find out policies and so forth. National and State
Speaker 2: do studies of different subjects like juvenile justice and other
Speaker 2: legal matters that people might be voting on. From time
Speaker 2: to time, they decide on what the members in the
Speaker 2: state are interested in studying, and then they research and
Speaker 2: provide study materials for local education. So it's voter registration
Speaker 2: and just voter education on all different topics.
Speaker 3: Well, that's very good.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you for coming in today. And
Speaker 1: once again we've got the event on the fifteenth.
Speaker 2: On the fifteenth October fifteenth, six point thirty at the
Speaker 2: Bartsow Public Library, the downstairs meeting room they call it
Speaker 2: Room Cup to our s VP, just up, just turn up.
Speaker 3: Well I like that.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be kind of fun, kind of informal, but
Speaker 1: of course, you know, genties, he's a he's.
Speaker 3: A he's a pretty smart fellow. They don't just hand
Speaker 3: out those you know, law degrees to anybody.
Speaker 1: And get on top of that, he's a pretty engaging
Speaker 1: fellow too, So you're gonna get a bit of an
Speaker 1: education here when we talk about the electoral college.
Speaker 3: Once again, Fran, thank you for being with us.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for letting me talk about this.