TULSA, Okla. — North Tulsa leaders say they still have concerns about early voting access after the Tulsa County Election Board announced plans to add a third location before the November general election.
On June 5, 2 News Oklahoma’s Isabel Flores reported on concerns from North Tulsa residents who said they did not have a convenient place to vote early.
WATCH: North Tulsa leaders continue push for accessible early voting site
North Tulsa leaders continue push for accessible early voting site
The election board announced that the new site would serve communities in Turley, Collinsville, Skiatook and parts of Owasso. However, officials have not announced its exact location or opening date.
Tulsa City Councilwoman Vanessa Hall-Harper said community leaders would continue speaking out.
“I’m not surprised, but at the same time, we are not going to stop voicing our concerns,” Hall-Harper said.
KJRH
The new location will not be available for the Aug. 25 election. Until it opens, voters will have to use existing early voting locations in Tulsa or Broken Arrow.
State Sen. Regina Goodwin said the election board’s announcement did not provide enough clarity or address the needs of densely populated areas in North Tulsa.
“We don’t know what that means. It’s not definitive. It does not serve densely populated areas,” Goodwin said.
Leaders said North Tulsa residents should have the same opportunity to vote early as people in other parts of Tulsa County, regardless of which election is on the ballot.
Hall-Harper said the issue centered on equal access to voting.
“It’s about access, and anything otherwise is voter suppression,” Hall-Harper said.
2 News will provide the new location and opening date when the election board announces them.
The Tulsa County Election Board sent this statement:
“At the Tulsa County Election Board our mission is to provide safe, secure, fair and accurate elections.
Oklahoma law only requires one early voting site per county. For years, we have operated two early voting sites in our county for the benefit of our early voters.
The process and criteria for selecting early voting sites is lengthy and must be considered for the benefit of all Tulsa County voters who wish to participate.
While election day precinct sites are designed for convenience at your nearby precinct, early voting sites are not designed for a particular precinct, district or location. Rather the early voting sites are chosen to be accessible for all 400,000 registered voters from all 251 precincts. The criteria for early voting sites are centered around accessibility, size and security with special consideration for long lines of traffic that won’t clog nearby neighborhoods and intersections. Inasmuch as possible we try to locate them near major highways for accessibility and away from neighborhoods and busy intersections for the good of all citizens.
For decades, the Tulsa County Election Board served at our North Denver downtown location and only recently moved to a new location out of necessity due to a critical lack of space. Planning has been underway since long before our move to open a third early voting location for the first time in our history.
This requires us to utilize every resource available to us in terms of staffing, training and equipment to be ready in time for the November election, and we are confident that we can accomplish that goal.
The decisions we make at our Election Board will always be driven by our mission to serve all of Tulsa County, and that mission will always remain the same.”
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere —
