Oklahomans planning to cast votes in the Presidential Preferential Primary Elections next month will need to check their registration status before the February 9 deadline. Primary elections in Oklahoma are scheduled for March 5, or Super Tuesday.
What is Super Tuesday?
Oklahoma and 14 other states and territories will hold primary elections or caucuses on Super Tuesday, March 5. Candidates use the primary election season to vie for party delegates who elect primary election winners to become their respective party’s nominee for presidential elections in November. President Joe Biden as the incumbent is the presumed nominee for the Democratic Party, and Donald Trump has secured early wins as the Republican nominee in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to the Associated Press.
Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina will hold their primary elections later this month.
The Republican Party will officially select their nominee during their July convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after the Libertarian Party convention in May and just before the Democratic Party convention in August.
Who is on the ballot?
The least populated primary ballot this year is the first Libertarian Party primary to be seen in Oklahoma. The Libertarian Party, with only 262 registered voters in Carter County, will decide between Chase Oliver and Jacob Hornberger for the party’s nomination.
The Democratic ballot has six names including Biden. Other names include political commentator Cenk Uygur, author Marianna Williamson, and Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota.
The Republican primary ballot includes eight names despite at least half of them already suspending their campaigns in recent weeks. Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador under then-President Trump, continues to be the biggest challenger to Trump.
Who’s voting in Carter County?
According to the Oklahoma State Election Board, just over 30,000 voters were registered in Carter County by January 31. While the number of total voters ahead of primary elections between 2020 and 2024 only grew by about 2% in Carter County, the number of registered Republicans in the county grew by more than 25%.
Just over 3,000 Carter County Republicans cast primary ballots in 2020 — less than 2% of all registered Republicans in the county at the time — with 247 of them casting early or mail-in ballots. Trump would go on to collect nearly 97% of Carter County Republican votes in the 2020 primary election and secure his party’s presidential nomination and later presidency.1
Voters in Oklahoma need to be registered with their local county’s election board by Friday, Feb. 9.
How do I vote in the primary elections?
State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax in December 2023 announced that only the Democratic primary in Oklahoma will be open this election season2. A registered Democratic or Independent voter may cast a Democratic primary, however a voter may only cast a ballot in one party’s primary.
Oklahoma Republicans and Libertarians will both hold closed primary elections, meaning only those who claimed those political affiliations with the election board can cast primary ballots in their respective party’s primary.
Voters in Oklahoma need to be registered with their local county’s election board by Friday, Feb. 9.
For voters wanting to cast ballots at their local polling precinct on March 5, nothing more has to be done. For voters expecting to vote by mail, absentee ballots must be requested from the county election board by Feb. 19. and returned or postmarked by March 5.
Voters wanting to cast ballots during early voting will do so at the Colvert Ministry Building, 503 W. Broadway St., between Feb. 29 and March 2.
How do I check my voter registration?
Any voter in Oklahoma can visit the Election Board’s website https://www.oklahoma.gov/elections to verify their voter registration status. Carter County voters can also check with the local election board by visiting their office at 25 A Street Northwest in downtown Ardmore, or calling (580) 223-5290.
Carter County Election Board Secretary Diane Hall said on Monday that ongoing roof work on the county administration building has led to limited parking near her office’s entrance. She said the new parking lot off West Broadway Street can be used by the public.
- State Election Board results, March 2020 | https://results.okelections.us/OKER/?elecDate=20200303 ↩︎
- State Election Board statement, December 2023 | https://oklahoma.gov/elections/newsroom/2023/december/independents-eligible-to-vote-in-2024-democratic-primary-electio.html ↩︎
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