President Joe Biden is urging Congress to resurrect sweeping voting rights legislation that would mandate same-day and online registration and restore voting rights for people convicted of felonies after leaving prison.
A combined version of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement and Freedom to Vote Acts cleared the House but stalled in the Senate last January. But a Republican legislator from Piedmont wants Oklahoma to be ready to counter what she sees as potential federal interference in the state electoral process.
Rep. Denise Crosswhite Rader sponsored House Bill 1415 to establish a mechanism for Oklahoma to separate state and federal elections should Congress pass certain voting reforms. Last year, she proposed a similar bill that House Democrats termed overly complex and argued could clear the way for the passage of discriminatory voting laws.