Court case could put Oklahoma's Nov. 2 general election at risk, official says

Candidate names will be on the front of the ballot, and the 11 state questions will be on the back.

Printers have finished the back of more than 2.1 million of the 2.4 million ballots, Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said. Printing began this week on the ballot fronts.

"It would be questionable whether there would even be enough time to print the ballots in time for the general election if we had to start all over," Ziriax said. He said ballots were scheduled to be complete Oct. 15.

Having to change the ballots, he said, "logistically it would be a nightmare, and it would likely disenfranchise hundreds if not thousands of military voters."

A Sept. 17 hearing has been set on the Tulsa County lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of two questions. State Question 751 would require state business to be conducted only in English and State Question 746 would require voters to present identification that includes a photograph before casting ballots.

James C. Thomas, a Tulsa attorney who filed the lawsuit, said because so many ballots have been printed probably does prevent the likelihood of getting a temporary injunction to prohibit the two questions from being on the ballot until a full court hearing could be held.

"No court's going to make the Election Board reprint ballots," he said.

Thomas said as an alternative he will be seeking a ruling that the proposed questions are unconstitutional. If voters would approve one or both of the questions, the court ruling would prohibit them from being enacted.