Oklahoma election officials ousted after challenging vote tabulation; may face criminal investigation

Two Republicans appointed in 2023 to the Oklahoma County Election Board were removed by state authorities Wednesday after it considered complaints they lodged about how the county tabulates election results. The state board also suggested criminal charges should be filed against the pair.

Decisions to remove Cheryl Williams, appointed to the board in 2023 as the Republican Party's representative, and Jenni White, appointed as Williams' alternate, were made unanimously by the Oklahoma State Election Board's three members after they met in an executive session that lasted nearly 11 hours.

Besides removing Williams and White from the county election board, the state board also recommended both women's actions be reviewed by the Oklahoma County district attorney's office and Oklahoma's attorney general to evaluate if they should be criminally prosecuted.

Williams could not be reached Thursday for comment, but White said she was surprised the board took those actions for conduct she believes was part of her responsibilities as an appointed election board official.

"I am disappointed, obviously," White said Thursday. "There were many ways to go in this situation that didn't have to result in firing and then subsequently calling for an investigation of someone who is a citizen. To me, that seemed excessive."

More: Oklahoma primaries: Everything you need to know for the 2024 presidential election

Ken Warner, chairman of Oklahoma County's Republican Party, responded similarly.

"If they were going to let Cheryl and Jenni go, they should have just let them go," Warner said.

"I don't think they did anything wrong. I think they saw some things they wanted to have discussed. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. They were just dismissed. Hopefully, something good will come out of this before it's all said and done. That's my wish, anyway," Warner said.

Oklahoma's Election Board has the authority to appoint and, when necessary, remove members and alternates representing Republicans and Democrats to county election boards across the state. It also selects or can remove election board secretaries for each of Oklahoma's 77 counties.

Those primary Republican and Democratic members, along with the secretaries, make up each county's three-person election board. Alternates fill in when designated party representatives can't attend.

During that session, board members took testimony from Williams and White, Oklahoma County Election Board Secretary Doug Sanderson and Tuesday Sanders, Sanderson's deputy. David Glover, the Democratic Party's representative on the county election board, also testified.

Sanderson, who served as the Logan County Election Board secretary from 1988 until 1995 and the Oklahoma County Election Board secretary ever since, could have been removed from his post by the state Election Board because of the women's complaints.

He was not disciplined on Wednesday.

Oklahoma County Election Board members claim Oklahoma County tabulates election results conflicts with state law

A letter Williams and White sent in late November to Paul Ziriax, secretary of the state Election Board, prompted Wednesday's meeting.

Williams and White wrote Ziriax to tell him they believed the process Oklahoma County uses to tabulate both absentee and poll-cast votes violates state law.

While Sanderson allowed election board members to verify mailed-in absentee ballots as part of a Nov. 14 bond issue election for Jones were properly sealed and certified, Williams and White complained Sanderson declined to allow Williams to visually inspect the enclosed ballots, or to inspect tapes, scanning machines or thumb drives carrying scanner results from precinct polling places.

The only tool at Williams' disposal to monitor the counting process after polls closed, they wrote, was a closed-circuit monitor where precinct officials could be seen delivering scanners and associated materials to the election board's office during the tabulations process.

As each precinct's results were tabulated, vote totals were added to the unofficial elections results page on the Oklahoma State Election Board's website, also broadcast into the board's meeting room. Those unofficial results were what the board was asked to certify later the same week, they wrote.

Williams and White wrote they believe the process the Oklahoma County Election Board uses to certify election conflicts with administrative rules set by the state agency, which say a county election board shall canvass precinct and absentee results for all elections.

Checks they made with other counties showed Oklahoma County's board is the only one statewide that prevents board members from directly witnessing tabulation activities, they also wrote.

"Since neither David, nor Cheryl could not visually — in person — review any of the canvassing procedure, their vote to certify the election was fraudulent, as they were voting to certify something they hadn’t seen with their own eyes," they wrote.

"Clearly, Mr. Sanderson is not following Oklahoma election law," they wrote.

Williams and White wrote Ziriax that they brought up their concerns about how Oklahoma County tabulates election votes in September as they went through a training session after their appointments to the board.

They unsuccessfully reiterated those concerns the night the results for the Jones bond issue were tabulated and later in the week when the board met to certify the election's results, they wrote.

"Doug Sanderson and Tuesday Sanders spoke to both Cheryl Williams and Jenni White in a very disrespectful way," they wrote.

"We were threatened with, and ultimately kicked out of a state building. This is not the way for state employees to speak to members of the public who pay their salary and are simply trying to follow the law in the positions to which they were appointed," they wrote.

As for Glover, he told The Oklahoman he believed the process the election board uses to tabulate election votes had been in place for years and previously had been reviewed and authorized by Oklahoma County's district attorney's office.

Why could Oklahoma County Election Board members face criminal investigations?

Actions Williams and White took to question Oklahoma County's election results might be criminally prosecutable, the state Election Board found. An approved motion put forward by Mignon Lambley directed Ziriax to work with Oklahoma's attorney general and Oklahoma County's district attorney to explore the possibility.

Before that, the board approved two other motions made by Heather Mahieu Cline, the board's chair, to remove both Williams and White from their roles as Oklahoma County Election Board members.

"We have spent the last 10-plus hours thoroughly reviewing and discussing the facts and the laws related to the complaints surrounding the continued service of these individuals and after interviewing all of the individuals who were involved," Cline said, before moving to eject both members.

"I want to make clear that any proposed action moving forward is not being taken lightly or without due diligence and proper care these personnel matters require. Further, any action taken by this board is not retaliatory. It is not discriminatory in any way.

"It is solely based on the facts and circumstances surrounding their actions or non-actions while serving as a board member, their truthfulness and whether they faithfully discharged their assigned duties under the law," Cline said.

The state Election Board also voted to give Oklahoma County's Republican Party until Feb. 7 to provide it with proposed nominees to fill the newly vacant county election board positions, something Warner said he hoped to have done by the end of this week.

Oklahoma County's next elections are Feb. 13, where some voters will select a new house member to represent parts of Edmond while others consider various proposed city and school election questions.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma election officials removed after challenging vote tabulation