Poll: Big majority of Oklahoma Republican voters think 2020 election was stolen
As Congress moves to change the process for counting Electoral College votes after a presidential election, nearly two-thirds of likely Republican voters in Oklahoma still think the 2020 election was stolen.
Legislation to raise the threshold for challenging a state’s Electoral College votes and to clarify the vice president’s limited role in the certification cleared the House on Wednesday, with the aim of heading off a future attempt to overturn the outcome of a presidential election. The bill was backed by only nine Republicans, none from Oklahoma.
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, criticized the bill earlier in the week when it was considered by the House Rules Committee.
“After the attack on the Capitol building last January, there is bipartisan consensus that reforms to the Electoral Count Act are desirable,” said Cole, the top Republican on the committee. “Commonsense reforms, like an acknowledgement that the vice president’s role is ministerial in nature, could be the subject of bipartisan agreement.”
More:GOP voters favor candidates who talk about God
However, Cole said the House bill went beyond consensus reforms to the point of improperly interfering in states’ conduct of their own elections. Cole called the legislation “another partisan bill designed to fit a political narrative.”
Cole and the other four House members from Oklahoma voted in 2021 against accepting the Electoral College votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Westville, the Republican nominee to replace U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, said in a televised debate last month that he believed the 2020 election was stolen.
“It’s going to be very hard to convince me that Joe Biden received more votes than any other president in history,” Mullins said. “It is absolutely absurd to think that’s even possible.”
According to a recent poll, 63% of likely Republican voters in Oklahoma agree.
The poll was taken by Amber Integrated, of Oklahoma City, Aug. 11-15 and had a margin of error of 3.8%.
There was little difference in opinion by gender. Older voters were more likely than young ones to believe the election was stolen. The biggest differences among Republicans on the question came in regard to education: 82% with a high school education or less believed the election was stolen, while 51% with a four-year college degree and 46% with a graduate degree thought it was stolen.
Head of Oklahoma Republican Party doesn't believe 2020 election was stolen
Oklahoma Republican Party Chair A.J. Ferate contradicted Mullin and his GOP opponent T.W. Shannon last month for claiming in the debate that the election was stolen. Ferate tweeted that the election wasn’t stolen and that former President Donald Trump’s campaign had not proved fraud in court.
More:Oklahoma economy still sailing strong despite headwinds
Asked about the poll showing 63% of likely Oklahoma Republicans believing the election was stolen, Ferate told reporters for The Oklahoman on Wednesday, “That’s fine. I don’t have a problem with that. If they want to believe that, that’s their decision … If people want to say the election was stolen, why does that bother me? I just want people to vote for Republicans and I want to put conservatives in office.”
However, Ferate also said that two U.S. Senate candidates lost in Georgia last year because Republican voters thought the 2020 election was rigged and didn’t turn out to vote.
“In Oklahoma, I can’t have those people staying home,” he said. “Whether they believe the election was rigged or not, I need them all to come out. I need them all to come vote.”
Donald Trump criticizes bill altering process for counting Electoral College votes
In debate on Wednesday about the legislation to update the Electoral Count Act, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, of Wyoming, said, “If your aim is to prevent future efforts to steal elections, I would respectfully suggest that conservatives should support this bill. If instead your aim is to leave open the door for elections to be stolen in the future, you might decide not to support this or any other bill to address the Electoral Count Act.”
Trump on Thursday criticized the legislation, saying on social media that language clarifying the vice president couldn’t influence the certification proved he was right that former Vice President Mike Pence could have sent election results back to state legislatures.
The White House issued a statement in support of the House bill, saying the Biden administration “shares the Congress’ interest in safeguarding the electoral process to preserve the will of the people, as expressed through democratic procedures established by law.
“Since the Electoral Count Act was enacted in 1887, several close or contested elections have revealed the need for greater precision in the statutory structure. The proposed legislation is another important step in Congress’ consideration of critically needed reform of the 135-year-old Electoral Count Act. Americans deserve greater clarity in the process by which their votes will result in the election of a President and Vice President.”
The House bill would require one-third of lawmakers from the House and the Senate to make a challenge to a state’s electors. Currently, a single lawmaker can launch a challenge. A Senate version of the bill would require one-fifth of each House.
It is not clear when the Senate will take up the matter.
Staff writers Ben Felder and Carmen Forman contributed to this report
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Poll: Big majority of Oklahoma GOP voters think 2020 election stolen
