Five state questions were put to Oklahoma voters on a wide range of issues related to health care, criminal justice, the civic process and education funding. The approval of any of these state questions would change the state constitution to reflect the will of the people, but only one will ultimately do so.
SQ 793: Vision care and eye glasses
| Votes | % | |
| Yes | 579,741 | 49.8 |
| No | 585,355 | 50.2 |
Increasing access to vision care versus potentially benefiting Walmart outlines much of the dichotomy between the yes and no camps on this issue. Although absentee and early voting figures indicated strong support for allowing optometrists to operate in retail locations, the margin between victory and defeat for SQ 793 was less than half a point for most of the reporting period Tuesday night. In the end, SQ 793 barely failed.
SQ 794: Marsy’s Law
| Votes | % | |
| Yes | 904,308 | 78 |
| No | 254,966 | 22 |
From absentee and early voting through the earliest election-day results, Oklahomans exhibited strong support for the victims’ rights package known as Marsy’s Law to be incorporated in the state constitution. In fact, every county’s majority voted yes on 794. Prior to Tuesday, The Oklahoman endorsed the measure, and TV ads featuring Kelsey Grammer in favor of SQ 794 lacked reciprocal opposition.
SQ 798: Governor and lieutenant governor joint ticket
| Votes | % | |
| Yes | 528,110 | 45.9 |
| No | 622,233 | 54.1 |
Opposition to allowing future governor and lieutenant governor candidates to run on the same ticket held about a 10-point lead with just a little over half of all precincts reporting. That lead would remain relatively steady only to increase as the night wore on.
SQ 800: Oklahoma Vision Fund
| Votes | % | |
| Yes | 488,135 | 42.8 |
| No | 652,984 | 57.2 |
The Oklahoma Vision Fund faced steady opposition in early and absentee voting, with the trend continuing through Tuesday night. The fund was advertised by supporters as a way to support education, but detractors saw it as just the opposite, as it would have funneled money from gross production taxes (which already fund education) into a fund that could be used for other things.
SQ 801: Ad valorem tax for education
| Votes | % | |
| Yes | 572,151 | 49.6 |
| No | 581,504 | 50.4 |
Although touted as a way for school districts to increase local control over their budgets, fears about increasing discrepancies between rich and poor districts countered support for this measure in the run-up to election day. Much like SQ 793, this question seesawed between favor and opposition even as total precincts reporting entered the 90-percent range. Eventually, the measure was narrowly defeated.
To view and explore more in-depth election data, visit the Oklahoma State Election Board’s new OK Election Results page, which is still in its beta-testing phase but offers a multitude of options for the seriously curious.
For all of our political stories from the election and earlier this year, visit this page.
(Editor’s note: All results listed are unofficial and may change slightly as final precincts are counted. The Oklahoma State Election Board is schedule to certify election results by the end of the week.)
