March 23, 2020
By News Director Jared Atha
Oklahoma State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax declared an election emergency for local elections being held in 74 counties on April 7 in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the state.
The election emergency declaration will require County Election Boards to accept resolutions adopted by the governing bodies of school districts, municipalities, technology districts and counties to move their April 7 elections to another date. Regular and statutory elections could be rescheduled on June 30, the next available election date and the date of the State Primary Election. Special elections could be rescheduled for any election date allowed by law.
County Election Board Secretaries will reach out to the local governments holding elections in their counties to inform them of the election emergency and the option of rescheduling their April 7 elections.
Local elections that were scheduled in the area include school board elections in Mangum, Hammon, Sentinel and Carnegie. There was also a bond proposal in Canute that would have been put to a vote.
Ziriax said voters who have questions about whether or not an election will be rescheduled are encouraged to contact the local government that scheduled the election.
