The conflict follows his reversal earlier this year on the proposed Inola aluminum smelter.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Mazzei is promising to oppose warrantless use of Flock cameras to track law-abiding Oklahomans, nearly a decade after voting as a state senator to authorize a government license-plate-reader program that required no warrant.
“The Oklahoma City Council got this one wrong,” Mazzei wrote Thursday on Facebook. “Flock cameras track where you drive, when, and how often. Not criminals. Everyone. And the government keeps that record without a judge ever signing off.”
Mazzei’s post came two days after the City Council voted 5-3 to extend its contract with Flock Safety. He said that as governor he would oppose using the cameras to track law-abiding Oklahomans without a warrant.
“You shouldn’t have to trade your privacy for the right to drive to work,” he wrote.
2016 vote authorized plate readers
Official Senate records show Mazzei voted for the final version of Senate Bill 359 on May 26, 2016. The measure passed the Senate 34-10, and Mazzei also served on the conference committee that developed the final version.
SB 359 created the Uninsured Vehicle Enforcement Program and authorized law enforcement agencies to contract with automatic license-plate-reader providers. Cameras could collect plate information and compare it with the state’s insurance-verification system to identify uninsured vehicles. The law did not require a warrant before a plate was photographed or checked.
The program was narrower than Oklahoma City’s current use of Flock cameras. It was designed to enforce Oklahoma’s compulsory insurance law, not to assist with a broader range of criminal investigations.
It also included restrictions on the information collected. The law prohibited selling the data or sharing it for unauthorized purposes and required evidence to be destroyed when it was no longer needed.
Still, the program authorized government collection and use of license-plate data without first obtaining a warrant, and it remains part of Oklahoma law.
Mazzei’s Facebook post did not mention his 2016 vote or say whether insurance enforcement should be an exception to the warrant requirement he now advocates.
Earlier reversal involved Inola smelter
The questions come after another change in Mazzei’s position during the governor’s race.
During a March 30 debate, Mazzei criticized taxpayer incentives and foreign ownership connected with the proposed aluminum smelter near Inola. On May 29, he announced strong support for the project and said he would work with the Trump administration to bring similar developments to Oklahoma.
President Donald Trump endorsed Mazzei later that day.
Mazzei later said he had never opposed the smelter itself and that his position changed after he learned more about its financing and potential economic benefits.
Mazzei’s campaign was asked whether he has changed his position on warrantless license-plate readers, whether he would support amending or repealing the program he voted for, whether insurance enforcement should remain an exception and what uses of plate-reader data he believes should be permitted without a warrant.
The campaign did not respond by publication deadline. Any response received after publication will be reviewed for an update.
