Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 210 into law Thursday, reinstating the requirement that mail-in absentee ballots be notarized under most circumstances.

The emergency legislation was approved by a majority of both houses after a divided Supreme Court decision last Monday eliminates the requirement that mail-in absentee ballots be notarized.

In the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a movement started among some factions to make mail-in absentee voting easier and requiring less contact with others.

In a 6-3 opinion in response to an application for extraordinary relief filed by the League of Women Voters and others, the Supreme Court found that absentee ballots fell within a 2002 statute creating an alternative process attesting to the authenticity of a signature that does not require the presence of a notary to witness the signing.

Under that statute, a signature that is dated and carries a declaration that it is made under penalty of perjury carries the force and effect of a notary’s affidavit.

SB 210 adds specific statutory language requiring mail-in absentee ballots be notarized, clarifying that absentee voting is an exception to the 2002 alternative attestation law.

However, the bill also allows:

•Voters to submit absentee ballots with a copy of their identification or voter identification card, in lieu of having it notarized, if a public health emergency has been declared within 45 days of an election. That is expected to include the June 30 primary election.

•Residents of long-term care facilities and veterans’ centers to vote absentee under existing Election Board procedures for those facilities that would be enhanced by allowing a facility official to be deputized by an election official to enter the facility to collect required documentation.

•Those ill with COVID-19 who cannot leave their home, those suffering from symptoms of COVID-19 and those in high-risk categories can be considered “physically incapacitated” and can have an absentee ballot sent to their home if requested by 5 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding any election.

Ballots for physically incapacitated persons can be returned to the county election board by a designated third party, rather than having to be returned in the mail.

State Sen. Darcy Jech and House Majority Leader Mike Sanders, both Kingfisher Republicans, voted in favor of the measure.

“Nothing is more important to us as citizens of the United States of America than the freedom to cast our vote to determine who governs us,” Sanders said.

“The Supreme Court ruling was not that absentee ballots cannot be notarized but that the statute relied on the wrong section of law to require notarization. This measure corrects that and strengthens our law ensuring the integrity of our election process and hindering voter fraud.”

“A few years ago the voters of Oklahoma voted overwhelmingly (70%+) to require that IDs be shown when voting in person,” Jech said.

“Clearly, that was a message that the integrity of out state’s voting system is important.

“This bill is aimed to maintain that same integrity in the absentee voting process.

“For a little history on the notary requirement, I’m told that it was in response to an absentee voter scandal that occurred in eastern Oklahoma in the 1950s, so the requirement has been in place in Oklahoma for well over 50 years.”