By Journalist Amaya Brooks (OBU)
Senator Carter from the TU delegation prepares to start this Friday of legislation off with a bang. His bill would allow Oklahoma voters who are registered as independents to vote in any primary election that they feel best represents their views. “My bill tries to remain as unbiased and nonpartisan as possible.”
The vote of Independent voters has caused many questions within the Oklahoma legislature, and with just going through midterm elections, the vote of independents is of great consideration in the minds of Oklahomans. Senator Carter states, “In Oklahoma specifically, independents are a growing number. A lot of people are unhappy with both parties and they’d like a say in what happens in how both parties are electing in the general election.”
The Senate body was very active during questioning and caucusing regarding this bill. Senator Ruiz (OBU) said, “Independent voters have that right to choose to be independent, and just because they’re independent doesn’t mean we should deprive them of getting to choose whether or not they want to vote Democratic or Republican.” Zero star, Senator Alexander (SE) echoes this sentiment, saying, “I think that independent voters should be able to have the right to vote in the primaries that they see fit.”
Senator Saunders (OBU) takes advantage of the open caucusing floor in the Senate and says, about TU-001, “In reality, I do think this would be more of a positive because it would temper the radicalization in both parties and therefore you would get a better quality candidate.” While this is seen as one of the positives of this bill by many Senators, Senator Ervin (NWOSU) seems to think this bill would not accomplish that. He say, “This is playing with fire. Considering Democrats have already made clear their strategy is to influence Republican primaries, there’s a lot of independents who may continue to engage in that Democratic strategy.” This could result in more radicalization in the primary election candidates, specifically for the Republican party.
As this bill faced amendments, Senator Mason (NWOSU) called for debate on this bill. As the proponency and opponency prepare their speakers and speaking points, the proponency assembles an intriguing group of people. The author of the bill does not step up to debate, but instead the side is taken over by the passionate voices of zero stars(pictured above). As these young O.I.L. Senators prepared to take the stage and defend TU-001, their delegation chairs proudly cheered them on.
Senator Carter’s bill brought a lot of unique conversation and passed in the Senate. Now, on to the House.