Oklahoma
| Affirmative Action Project Home | State News & Connerly Initiatives Home | |
| Arizona | California | Colorado |
| Florida | Michigan | Missouri |
| Nebraska | Oklahoma | Texas |
| Washington | Initiaves Generally | Ward Connerly |
In Oklahoma, Connerly’s OCRI (Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative) was withdrawn because of a lack of valid signatures.
Petition signatures had been submitted to the Oklahoma Secretary of State. After the Secretary found an unprecedented number of duplicate signatures and irregularities, and the ACLU and NAACP filed a challenge to the signature count and protest to the petition, Connerly and his supporters withdrew their initiative from consideration on April 4, 2008.
In addition to the signature challenge, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson had revised the ballot measure’s title to make clear to voters that Connerly’s initiative threatened to dismantle affirmative action programs in the state.
Oklahoma Coalition Members
The following organizations came together to defeat the initiative.
AWAKE (All Working to Achieve and Keep Equality)
Oklahoma News and Publications
Oklahoma Legal Challenges – ACLU – February through April 2008
Opponents of Equal Opportunity Seek to Withdraw Their Own Ballot Measure - ACLU Press Release - April 8, 2008
Affirmative Action Ban Scuttled - Tulsa World - April 5, 2008
OCRI Motion to Withdraw - April 4, 2008
ACLU and NAACP Objection to Signature Count and Protest to Petition - March 7, 2008
ACLU sues to protect Equal Opportunity - acluok.org - March 7, 2008
Groups to Fight Petition Against Affirmative Action - Tulsa World - February 21, 2008
Secretary of State’s Report on OCRI Signatures and Irregularities - February 7, 2008
