The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a 2025 state law that placed new limits on the initiative petition process, according to the Oklahoma Policy Institute.
The court held that Senate Bill 1027 is “unconstitutional and void in its entirety” and can’t be enforced, the group said in a statement.
The Legislature passed the measure in 2025. OK Policy says it would have made it harder for ordinary Oklahomans to put issues before voters as state questions, and that its own analysis found the law would have shut millions of registered voters out of the petition process.
Opponents sued, arguing the law threatened a fundamental right in the state constitution and created needless barriers to citizen-led ballot measures.
Cole Allen, an OK Policy analyst who has tracked the bill since its introduction, called the ruling a victory for Oklahomans’ constitutional rights. “Political power belongs to the people,” he said. He urged residents to stay alert for new attempts to restrict the petition process, and said lawmakers should respect the decision and not revive the issue. Allen said legislators’ time would be better spent on affordability and public schools.
It’s the latest setback to Republican efforts around the country to shut down the ballot initiative process in states that have one; many GOP-controlled states have seen voters passing policies at odds with the legislature, from Medicaid expansion to safeguarding abortion rights.
Missouri Republicans faced their own blow in the midterm elections, as voters simultaneously overturned their mid-decade congressional gerrymander and passed new limits on the legislature’s ability to pass bills nullifying citizen ballot initiatives.
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