Saturday, December 5, 2015

Presidential Hopefuls Begin Filing For Oklahoma Primary

Every state has a filing period.
Oklahoma's is in early December. 

Monday, Dec. 7th is the first day of the Oklahoma Election Board's 3-day filing period.

  By statute, the candidates seeking access to the Oklahoma presidential primary must file with the state election board during the 3 announced days, in early December.
  This may not be the national photo-op that it is in New Hampshire, but several media outlets will have correspondents staying in touch with the election board.
   In 2012, some upstart campaigns almost missed the opportunity to be on the ballot because they lacked the national campaign staff to keep up with the election laws of all 50 states. Senator Rick Santorum won the Republican primary in Oklahoma, but even his campaign failed to plan for the Oklahoma Super Tuesday filing window.  One mutual friend of Santorum and myself, took the 'last-minute' initiative to contact Santorum and offer to fill out the paperwork and provide the check on his behalf.

Here's the information that the election board published:
CANDIDATE FILING PERIOD
Monday, December 7, 2015, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Tuesday, December 8, 2015, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Wednesday, December 9, 2015, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Eligibility

  Only candidates who are members of political parties currently recognized in the State of Oklahoma may file a Statement of Candidacy for the Presidential Preferential Primary. On the Statement, candidates must swear or affirm that they are fully qualified to become a candidate for the office of President of the United States and that they will be fully qualified to hold said office. They must also swear or affirm that they have filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission and have raised and expended not less than $5,000.00 for said office.
Candidates can use a name other than their
legal identity. Jeb Bush has consistently
campaigned as "Jeb", even though it's not
his legal first name.

Where to File

  The Statement of Candidacy must be submitted to the office of the State Election Board, Room B-6, State Capitol Building, 2300 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105. Candidates may appear in person to submit a Statement of Candidacy, or another person may submit the form on the candidate’s behalf. Candidates also may submit the Statement of Candidacy by U.S. Mail or another delivery service. If submitted by mail or other delivery service, the Statement of Candidacy must arrive at this office during the three-day filing period prescribed by state law. Statements are not accepted by fax or email.
5000 petitioners, equally divided among the state's
congressional districts, can be submitted in lieu of the
$2500 filing fee.

Filing Fee or Petition

  The Statement of Candidacy shall be accompanied by one of the following:
 A cashier’s check or certified check in the amount of $2,500.00 made payable to the Secretary of the State Election Board.
 A petition supporting the candidacy which is signed by one percent (1%) of the registered voters in each Congressional district eligible to vote for the candidate, or by one thousand (1,000) registered voters in each Congressional district eligible to vote for the candidate, whichever is less, as reflected by the latest January 15 registration report. (26 O.S. 2011, Section 20-102) For 2016, a petition requires a minimum of 1,000 signatures per Congressional district and a minimum total of 5,000 signatures.

Candidate’s Name

A candidate’s name will be printed on the ballot as it is entered on the first line of the Statement of Candidacy; however, no candidate shall have any prefix, suffix, or title placed before or after the candidate’s name. A candidate’s full legal name also must be provided on the Statement of Candidacy.

The Election Board's website is not providing the filing form,
during part of the weekend.
Footnote: To make matters worse for candidates, the Oklahoma State Election Board's website is "down for maintenance" at the time of this publication. 
If the State Election Board's website continues to be unreliable, the candidate packet is also available at our mirror site, here: PPP Candidate Packet
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