What SQ 836 does:

• Completely switches to California's election system for all county, state and federal elections in Oklahoma (except presidential)

• Only two states use this system currently: California (since 2010) and Washington (since 2004)

• Jungle primary: all candidates for an office run against each other in one combined primary, regardless of party (Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Green, etc.)

• The top two vote-getters in the primary, regardless of party, move on to the November general election; as a result, general elections for many offices in Oklahoma will be Democrat-vs-Democrat or Republican-vs-Republican

• A candidate could change their party registration as late as the day of filing for office (currently in Oklahoma, an individual must be registered as a voter of a particular political party at least six months in order to file as a candidate from that party)

​​

What SQ 836's effects would be:

• Distort Oklahoma elections, increase voter confusion

• Severely disenfranchise Independent, Libertarian and other third-party voters in November general elections

• Do away with runoff elections entirely

• Severely limit choices for Oklahoma voters, particularly in the general election

• Favor Big Money candidates even more than the current system

 

The purpose of political parties:

• Like-minded citizens organizing together in order to build a coalition large enough to achieve a shared objective

• Give busy, hardworking men and women -- i.e., voters -- a benchmark to help determine which candidates they more closely align with

 

SQ 836 would distort Oklahoma elections

• In Oklahoma's current election system, primaries allow voters of the larger political parties -- Democrat, Republican Libertarian -- to determine which candidates will represent them in the general election

• SQ 836 turns this into a confusing, chaotic mess, just like in California, with voters facing a daunting primary ballot loaded with every candidate for every office

 

SQ 836 would limit choices for Oklahoma voters

• Under this new system, identical to what California uses today, many general elections will feature two candidates of the same party -- typically Democrat or Republican -- and no else

• Rarely, if ever, will a general election ballot feature options other than a Democrat or a Republican to choose from, since rarely will a third-party candidate gain enough votes in the primary election to finish in the top two and qualify for the November general election

 

SQ 836 favors Big Money candidates even more than the current system

• In most elections, only the candidates with the most money will be able to achieve enough exposure to advance -- even more so than is already the case

• In Oklahoma's current system, in order to advance to November, a candidate only needs to earn more votes than the other candidates from their own party

• With SQ 836's California-style system, in order to advance to the November general, a candidate will have to get more votes than all candidates but one from all parties, not just their own

• Elections will become even less about ideas and even more of a popularity contest

 

Oklahoma's 2018 gubernatorial election

• In the 2018 election, 15 candidates filed in the race for Oklahoma governor: 2 Democrat, 10 Republican, 3 Libertarian

• In the November general election, the three candidates were Drew Edmondson (Democrat), Kevin Stitt (Republican) and Chris Powell (Libertarian)

• If SQ 836's California-style system had been in place, only two candidates would have appeared on the November ballot -- the two who had received the most votes in the primary: Drew Edmondson (Democrat) and Connie Johnson (Democrat) … voters would have had no Republican or third-party option to vote for in November

 

California's 2016 U.S. Senate election

• In the 2016 election, 34 candidates filed in the race for California’s open U.S. Senate seat: 7 Democrat, 12 Republican, 2 Libertarian, 1 Green, 11 Independent, 1 Other

• On the general election ballot in November, the two candidates voters could choose from were the two who had received the most votes in the primary: Kamala Harris (Democrat) and Loretta Sanchez (Democrat)

• The contest resulted in Kamala Harris' first election to the U.S Senate

 

Updated Sept 16, 2025