logo
Login Subscribe
Google Play App Store
  • News
    • Obituaries
    • Lifestyle
    • Opinions
  • Sports
  • E-edition
  • Calendar
  • Archives
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Advertisers
    • Form Submission
    • About Us
    • News
      • Obituaries
      • Lifestyle
      • Opinions
    • Sports
    • E-edition
    • Calendar
    • Archives
    • Contact
      • Contact Us
      • Advertisers
      • Form Submission
      • About Us
Bill to require no-excuse absentee voting advances
news
March 5, 2025
Bill to require no-excuse absentee voting advances
By KEATON ROSS OKLAHOMA WATCH

A proposal to end noexcuse absentee voting in Oklahoma narrowly advanced 4-3 through the House Elections and Ethics Committee last week. Critics fear the measure could discourage voter participation and fuel election fraud paranoia.

House Bill 1515 by Rep. Molly Jenkins, RCoyle, requires voters to certify why they’re unable to vote in-person on election day or during early voting. Acceptable excuses include being 75 or older, travel, work and military service.

Jenkins said she could not cite an example of someone abusing the absentee voting system. She said she did not foresee a need for election officials to deny an application or further investigate why someone wishes to vote absentee.

“The goal of this is to strengthen the integrity of the election,” Jenkins told the committee. “When a person has to list a reason, it gives them pause to think about what they’re doing.”

Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City, criticized the proposal, arguing that the state doesn’t survey residents on why they’d like to purchase a firearm or attend a religious institution.

“No fundamental right in the U.S. requires citizens to justify why they’re exercising it,” Dollens wrote on X.

Two Republicans, Reps. Denise Crosswhite Hader and Clay Staires, joined Dollens in voting no against the bill. It was tied 3-3 in committee, but Speaker Pro Tempore Anthony Moore voted yes to break the tie. It’s now eligible to be considered in a House oversight committee, where it faces a March 6 deadline to continue on in the legislative process.

Several other notable election bills have advanced during the first three weeks of the legislative session, including:

• House Bill 2106 by Mike Osburn, R-Edmond: Reduces the number of election dates, setting four to five dates in odd-numbered years and seven to eight dates in even-numbered years. Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, is running a similar bill in the upper chamber.

• House Bill 1151 by Chris Banning, R-Bixby: Aligns school board elections with general and primary election dates.

• Senate Bill 890 by Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville: Requires local and municipal candidates to file campaign finance reports with the Ethics Commission.

The annual 4th of July Fireworks show
A: Main, news
The annual 4th of July Fireworks show
July 9, 2025
Eufaula’s population was swollen over the weekend as thousands of out-of-towners joined locals to watch the annual 4th of July Fireworks show, held Friday, July 4. The display took place over the Eufa...
A: Main, news
City gets more attorneys; OKs growth plan
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
New-and-former City Manager Jacob Foos continues to make changes at city hall. Shortly after being re-hired for the position he left in September, 2021, Foos issued a statement that he was establishin...
Local resident stars in U.S. Cellular ad
A: Main, news
Local resident stars in U.S. Cellular ad
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
In all of her 58 years Louana Christie, EHS Class of ’85, never thought she would appear before a camera. Movie making was for her older sister, Selina Jayne Dornan, former Eufaula mayor and who once ...
A: Main, news
Eufaula school feels the chill from Trump’s funding freeze
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
When the Trump administration announced this week it was freezing over $70 million in education funding earmarked for Oklahoma, it surprised a lot of administrators. Eufaula School Superintendent Mont...
A: Main, news
Trump freezes over $70 million in state’s education funds
July 9, 2025
States won’t receive funds from six federal programs, including after-school care and English learner support, until further notice. NURIA MARTINEZ-KEEL OKLAHOMA VOICE OKLAHOMA CITY — The Trump admini...
Noah Alexander trades football uniform for West Point uniform
A: Main, news
Noah Alexander trades football uniform for West Point uniform
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
Noah Alexander will begin his senior year at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., this fall. It seems like only yesterday he was a stand-out running back for the Eufaula Ironheads, ...
United for Oklahoma
ePaper
google_play
app_store
Editor Picks
Bud McCombs to speak to Friends of Library
news
Bud McCombs to speak to Friends of Library
By LENORE BECHTEL 
July 9, 2025
How Eufaula happened to exist will be Friend’s speaker’s topic at the Eufaula Memorial Library at 1 p.m. Friday, July 18, When Eufaula was only an intersection, the city’s founding fathers lived in a ...
news
Annual Memorial Service planned at Honey Springs Battlefield
July 9, 2025
CHECOTAH — Honey Springs Battlefield will hold its annual memorial service on Saturday, July 19, at 10:30 a.m. to honor the 162nd anniversary of the Battle of Honey Springs near Checotah. The service ...
Calls needed to protect National Weather Service operations
commentary
Calls needed to protect National Weather Service operations
By JOE DORMAN OICA CEO 
July 9, 2025
OKLAHOMA CITY – We at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) extend our deepest condolences to families tragically impacted by the recent flooding in Texas. Flooding along the Guadalupe Rive...
news
Jeff Starling launches campaign for attorney general
July 9, 2025
TULSA ––Jeff Starling, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Energy and Environment, has officially announced his candidacy for Attorney General of Oklahoma. Starling is a conservative, attorney, businessman, and d...
Warriors of God, ready yourselves
commentary
Warriors of God, ready yourselves
July 9, 2025
Of my 56 years of being in this world, 50 of those years I have been filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. I was only six years old when I attended my first Tiger Mount...
Facebook

THE EUFAULA INDIAN JOURNAL
100 N. 2nd Street
Eufaula, OK 74432

(918) 689-2191

This site complies with ADA requirements

© 2023 THE EUFAULA INDIAN JOURNAL

  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Policy