Election Board Finds 'Reasonable Explanations' In Most 'Dead Voter' Cases Cited By World

State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax today issued the following statement:

The State Election Board staff has been investigating the ten “deceased voters” identified by the Tulsa World who were recorded as voting.

So far we have found reasonable explanations in 9 of these cases. The tenth is still under investigation.

Here is the gist of what we have found so far:

In two of the cases, the voters died after voting by absentee ballot, but before the election. These ballots are valid and legal according to state law.

In the case of Louise Marie Chitwood, the late Bennington woman featured in the Tulsa World’s Sunday article, paper records show that another voter mistakenly signed the wrong line on the precinct registry. This led to a data entry error when the county election board staff entered the voter history in the state voter database credit for the 2008 general election.

Three other cases involved similar circumstances to Ms. Chitwood’s: Voters signed the wrong line on the precinct registry, resulting in errors when the voter history credit was entered into the state database following the election.

In another case, a deceased voter had the same name as his son. Paper records no longer exist for that election, but it is likely that the son or another voter signed the wrong line on the precinct registry.

In two other cases, paper records indicate that there was not a signature next to the deceased voters’ names on the precinct registry. It appears that data entry errors in the state voter database were responsible for these voters incorrectly being given credit for voting.

One case remains under investigation by the State Election Board.

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Election Board Strikes Johnson Protest

The State Election Board today ruled against Rep. Rob Johnson's protest of fellow Republican Dana Murphy's candidacy.

The board ruled Murphy did not invalidate her filing by signing her name one way when she already had signed it another way, with a middle initial. She had been instructed to do so by Election Board Secretary Mike Clingman.

Said Murphy: "This is a victory for common sense government and the people of Oklahoma."

Said Trebor Worthen, Johnson's spokesman: "We will respect the Election Board's ruling and will let the voters decide which Republican candidate is best able to beat Jim Roth in the general election."

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Chaos At The Election Board; Murphy Candidacy Challenge Delayed To Monday

The Election Board today postponed hearing a challenge to Republican Corporation Commission candidate Dana Murphy after two members of the three-member board recused themselves.

Board members Tom Prince of Edmond and Ramon Watkins of Tulsa each stepped aside Friday from hearing the challenge against Corporation Commission candidate Dana Murphy. They did not give a reason for recusing themselves from the case.

Election Board Secretary Mike Clingman said Governor Henry will appoint two interim members to hear the case with the remaining board member, Susan Turpen of Oklahoma City.

The hearing now is scheduled for Monday morning. The challenge was filed by Rep. Rob Johnson of Kingfisher, who opposes Murphy for the Republican nomination for the two-year, unexpired term on the Corporation Commission now held by Democrat Jim Roth.

Johnson claims that Murphy altered a notarized document by signing her name differently than it appeared on her filing declaration of candidacy form. A video of the filing shows Election Board Secretary Mike Clingman advising Murphy to do so, and marking through one signature after she added a second signature.

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Voter Registration Increases By 44,000-Plus

Voter registration in Oklahoma has increased, a possible reflection of interest in the presidential campaign, a state official says.

More than 44,000 new voters have been added statewide since the end of 2007, said Election Board Assistant Secretary Fran Roach.

At the end of 2007, there were 2,013,942 registered voters in Oklahoma, records show. By April 1, the number was 2,058,091.

"These are pretty high numbers," said Roach, who believes registration numbers are rising because of the presidential campaign. "There's so much interest in the races," she said.

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