Oklahoma Supreme Court upholds decision to strike OKC city council candidate from ballot

The Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld a decision to strike an Oklahoma City council candidate from the ballot Monday.

Chris Cowden, who filed to run for city council in northwest Oklahoma City's Ward 2, was recently deemed by the Oklahoma County Election Board to not meet the voter registration requirements set by the Oklahoma City charter. The board voted in December to strike Cowden from the ballot because he had not been registered to vote within Ward 2 for at least a year.

According to voter registration records, Cowden, 44, was registered to vote at an address in Nichols Hills until June 30, 2022, though he said he has lived in Ward 2 since 2017.

In December, Cowden told The Oklahoman the voter registration requirement wasn't a fair or relevant requirement to run for city council.

"Quite frankly to disqualify someone, simply because … my voter registration was not in the city, to suggest I don't have an entrance, is ridiculous," Cowden said at the time.

The Supreme Court decision confirms that Ward 2 Councilmember James Cooper, 40, will have only two opponents on the ballot Feb. 14. Business owner Weston Storey, 32, and Alexander DeShazo, 22, have also filed to run against Cooper.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Council candidate denied ballot access by Oklahoma Supreme Court