{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-26-26-14-123","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 26, § 26-14-123","heading":"Removal of outer envelopes - Examination of affidavits","body":"A. At 10:00 a.m. on Thursday preceding the election, or at such\n\ntime thereafter as the secretary of the county election board may\n\ndesire, the county election board may meet and publicly remove the\n\nouter envelopes from all absentee ballots then received, examine and\n\nremove properly executed affidavits and place the plain opaque\n\nenvelopes in a ballot box, locked with three locks. The procedure\n\nshall be repeated until such time as all ballots have been received.\n\nProvided, such procedure may begin at an earlier date upon the\n\nwritten approval of the Secretary of the State Election Board.\n\nB. 1. The county election board may designate one or more\n\nspecial absentee voting boards to conduct the removal of outer\n\nenvelopes and examination of affidavits described in subsection A of\n\nthis section. A special absentee voting board shall consist of two\n\nmembers, neither of whom shall be of the same political party.\n\nMembers of a special absentee voting board shall be designated by\n\nthe county election board from a list provided by the secretary of\n\nthe county election board. Members of a special absentee voting\n\nboard shall meet the same eligibility requirements as a precinct\n\njudge or clerk and shall receive the same compensation as a nursing\n\nhome absentee voting board.\n\n2. The public shall have the right to be present when a special\n\nabsentee voting board conducts the removal of outer envelopes and\n\nexamination of affidavits, but these duties are not required to be\n\nperformed during a public meeting of the county election board.\n\n3. A special absentee voting board so designated shall organize\n\nthe absentee ballot affidavits they have examined into three groups:\n\na. those the special absentee voting board agrees are\n\nproperly executed,\n\nb. those the special absentee voting board agrees are not\n\nproperly executed, and\n\nc. those absentee ballot affidavits about which the\n\nspecial absentee voting board members do not agree.\n\nEach group shall be reported to the county election board at a\n\npublic meeting of the board.\n\n4. For absentee ballot affidavits that the special absentee\n\nvoting board agrees are properly executed, upon approval of the\n\ncounty election board, the affidavits shall be removed and the plain\n\nopaque envelopes shall be eligible to be counted pursuant to law.\n\n5. For absentee ballots that the special absentee voting board\n\nagrees are not properly executed pursuant to law, the county\n\nelection board shall review the affidavits and make a determination\n\nas to whether the affidavits should be accepted or rejected pursuant\n\nto law.\n\n6. For absentee ballot affidavits on which the special absentee\n\nvoting board cannot agree about a properly executed affidavit, the\n\ncounty election board shall review the affidavits and make a\n\ndetermination as to whether the affidavits should be accepted or\n\nrejected pursuant to law.\n\nC. When an examination of an absentee ballot affidavit is made\n\nto determine whether it has been properly executed, such\n\ndetermination shall be based only upon the requirements found in\n\nthis title for the type of absentee ballot affidavit being examined.\n\nNo person making such a determination shall substitute his or her\n\nown personal preference or judgment in place of the requirements\n\nprovided by law.","path":["OK Code","Title 26"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os26.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"38647c7075c83304aadb0a74c51d556038e4dd4dda46b2ae19c86eefe2cd5012","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-26-26-14-122","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-26-26-14-124"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}