Guest: Get your facts straight — there is no problem with election security in Oklahoma

I say this with all respect: If someone tells you there’s a problem with election security in Oklahoma, they just don’t have their facts straight.

The League of Women Voters of Oklahoma took a deep dive into the question after allegations of fraud began to affect conversations about election integrity nationwide. We looked into cases of potential voting crimes referred by county election officials to Oklahoma district attorneys after the November 2020 presidential election.

Data furnished by the Oklahoma State Election Board showed 59 episodes of possible voting crimes. That’s out of a record-shattering 275,000 absentee ballots and more than 1.5 million total votes cast. Of those 59 cases, only one resulted in criminal charges.

There are several reasons for this success. Oklahoma employs the same voting system in all 77 counties. This allows state and county election officials to coordinate programming, training and maintenance entirely in-house and without using outside vendors.

Oklahoma’s electronic voting machines do not connect directly to the internet and are not vulnerable to cyberattack. Paper ballots give election officials 100% backup. Recent recounts using paper ballots confirmed the accuracy of voting machines.

Chain of custody rules ensure Oklahoma ballots are in the hands of trained election officials at every step of the process. The small scale of many county election operations makes it difficult to conceal misconduct.

Oklahoma State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax also has emphasized the fact that precinct officials and other election staff are, by law, bipartisan. Ziriax said this adds another layer of accountability and integrity. “These are not random people administering our elections,” he said, “(but) our friends, family and neighbors.”

In our review of the 2020 general election, the sole criminal case involved a Comanche County man who died shortly before Election Day. Authorities determined his absentee ballot arrived at his home after his death. The district attorney charged the man’s daughter with a misdemeanor count of illegal voting. She pleaded no contest and received a 60-day deferred sentence, plus a $10 fine.

In every other instance, prosecutors declined to file charges, usually determining there was “no criminal intent.” An Okmulgee County man filled out his wife’s ballot. A Pittsburg County voter signed on his father’s signature line in the precinct register.

There were 53 cases involving so-called double voters. Almost all involved older people who forgot they had mailed an absentee ballot and then also went to vote at their regular polling places. In some situations, investigators determined precinct workers failed to follow proper procedures such as issuing a provisional ballot. Those voters did, in fact, vote twice but prosecutors declined to press charges for lack of criminal intent.

In Tulsa County, investigators who looked into 16 double voter cases failed to find any coordinated pattern of deception.

These findings demonstrate that Oklahoma’s election infrastructure is sound — built to withstand threats ranging from cyberattack to other nefarious schemes such as the stuffing of ballot boxes. Between 2012 and 2020, there were only three cases of voting crime across Oklahoma — all involving municipal or school board elections, not races for statewide or national offices.

We are alarmed by the irresponsibility of individuals and organizations who continue to insist without evidence that there are “questions and concerns” about election security. Insinuating that there are problems where none exists undermines public confidence in free and fair elections. This is a threat to democratic freedom.

We hope you’ll vote on Nov. 8. Absentee or in-person, take confidence that your ballot will be counted as you cast it.

Veteran journalist and broadcaster Brian Davis produced the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma election security report on the November 2020 general election. He has also served as a precinct inspector for the Oklahoma Count Election Board.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Guest: Findings show Oklahoma's election infrastructure is sound