OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Three Oklahoma election bills were recently signed into law.

According to Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus, Senate Bills 375, 376, and 377 were all signed into law “to further strengthen our election and voting processes,”.

SB 375 says primary elections will take place on the third Tuesday of June rather then the last Tuesday of June. The bill also moves the starting date of the candidate filing period from the second Wednesday in April to the first Wednesday. This give election officials a 45-day window between the last primary election and the runoff to make federal and state deadlines and send absentee ballots to deployed servicemen and women.

SB 376 specifies that if someone signs for a physically incapacitated voter on an absentee ballot affidavit, the assistant must sign the voter’s name. There will be another section for the assistant to sign their personal name. This will go into effect Nov. 1, 2023.

SB 377 will cancel the voter registration of anyone relieved from jury duty for not being a U.S. citizen. County court clerks will be required to develop a list every month and give it to their county election board secretary, who will cancel the registrations and report them to the district attorney and the U.S. attorney for that county. This will also go into effect Nov. 1, 2023.