State election chief says Supreme Court ruling means no change for November and that Oklahoma plans technical updates for possible future postal requirements.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s chief election official votes absentee in every election and says voters should have confidence that the state’s mailed ballots are handled securely and counted accurately.
Oklahoma State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax told OK Politics Today on Tuesday that he has voted absentee since taking the position in 2009, largely because his election-day responsibilities keep him from going to his polling place.
“I have the utmost confidence in the handling of my ballot, whether it’s by the county election board, whether it’s by the U.S. Postal Service,” Ziriax said. “I think we have an excellent absentee voting system in Oklahoma.”
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied the federal government’s request to lift a preliminary injunction blocking new Postal Service requirements for ballot mail.
“The ruling itself doesn’t change a thing for this election,” Ziriax said.
Some county election boards have already begun sending absentee ballots, he said. Mailing schedules vary by county.
Oklahoma plans technical updates
The blocked Postal Service rule would have required states to submit lists of absentee-ballot recipients through a federal portal and use approved envelopes containing specified markings and barcodes. Noncompliant mailings could have been returned to election officials.
The Trump administration said the requirements were intended to prevent voter fraud.
Ziriax said Oklahoma could adapt to the requirements given enough time but probably could not have completed all the necessary changes before this year’s election.
The state’s absentee-ballot envelopes were previously approved by the Postal Service and already carry an election-mail marking and an intelligent mail barcode. But preliminary discussions indicated that the marking was slightly smaller than the new rule required and that the barcode lacked an additional piece of data that is currently optional.
Neither issue directly concerns election security, Ziriax said, but correcting them would require new envelope designs and programming changes.
He said the state intends to make those changes anyway to prepare for the possibility that similar requirements take effect in a future election.
“My intention is to make sure we go ahead and future-proof us against the possibility that a rule like that goes into effect,” Ziriax said.
The Supreme Court did not conclusively decide whether the Postal Service has authority to impose the requirements later. Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed that the rule should not apply this year because election officials lacked enough time to implement it. Justice Samuel Alito dissented, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas.
Safeguards include notarization
Oklahoma allows any registered voter to request a standard absentee ballot without providing a reason.
State law requires an identification number on the application that matches the voter’s registration record. The affidavit accompanying a standard absentee ballot must be notarized, and voters may track when their ballot was sent and received through the OK Voter Portal.
Ziriax said voters should read all instructions and give the included instructions to the notary. A voter’s signature and the notary’s signature are not enough if the notary fails to affix the required stamp.
“It’s not that it’s overly difficult, but there are technical requirements that have to be met,” he said.
Ziriax offered an example from his own family. He said the Oklahoma County Election Board rejected his wife’s absentee ballot during a 2024 statewide election because information was missing from the affidavit.
An election board employee called to notify him.
“I said, ‘No, no. If that’s what was on that affidavit, you need to follow the law, follow the rules,’” Ziriax said. “Just because she’s my wife doesn’t mean you treat her any differently than anybody else.”
He said the incident demonstrated that county election boards enforce the requirements even when they would prefer to count the ballot.
Officials flagged suspicious applications
Although the Mannsville case did not involve absentee voting, Ziriax cited it as another example of Oklahoma’s election safeguards working.
Ziriax said Johnston County election officials identified suspicious voter-registration applications, consulted the State Election Board and took their concerns to the district attorney. The district attorney directed the sheriff to investigate.
Mannsville city manager Shonda Barnes was later charged with 11 felony counts of false affidavit in voter registration. The charges remain pending, and Barnes has not been convicted in the case.
“Because of those sharp-eyed county election board officials, the system worked,” Ziriax said.
Under the state’s absentee-voting requirements, applications for the Nov. 3 election must be received by 5 p.m. Oct. 19. Ballots returned by mail or qualifying private delivery service must reach the county election board by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
“We have excellent laws and procedures in place for every type of voting,” Ziriax said, “to help make sure that the security of voting is protected, that we have integrity in our elections and that you can trust that the results are accurate and reflect the will of the voters.”
