Oklahoma Supreme Court Strikes Down Initiative Petition Restriction Law
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Senate Bill 1027, a 2025 law restricting the state's initiative petition process, violates the U.S. and Oklahoma Constitutions and is void and unenforceable in its entirety. The law had capped signature collection by county, restricted paid circulators, banned incentive-based compensation, required circulators to be registered Oklahoma voters, and limited petition wording, measures the court found created First Amendment and voter disenfranchisement problems. House Speaker Kyle Hilbert and Sen. David Bullard authored the law and Hilbert is urging the state to appeal. The court noted that citizens had previously used the initiative petition process to expand Medicaid, legalize medical marijuana, and enact criminal justice reform, issues lawmakers had declined to pursue.