Forum Tuesday for SQ 836

3 May 2025

By Beau Simmons, Stillwater News Press

Questions for Margaret Kobos

The Stillwater League of Women Voters and Oklahoma United is teaming up to host a forum on State Question 836, which would open primaries to Oklahoma voters regardless of party. The forum is 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Stillwater Community Center. The doors open for refreshments at 6 p.m. Oklahoma United founder and CEO Margaret Kobos answered questions about SQ836 and the forum.

1. Can you tell us about Oklahoma United and the League of Women Voters

   for people unfamiliar with those organizations?

   The mission of Oklahoma United is to advocate for nonpartisan, common

   sense initiatives and solutions that move Oklahomans forward economically

   and socially in measurable, incremental ways. We support voter registration,

   civic engagement, objective data and fact-based voter education, advocacy

   for sensible governance and the distribution of trustworthy information for well-informed citizens.

   
   

   Among our projects is active support of State Question 836, which is a

   citizen’s petition proposed constitutional amendment to replace Oklahoma’s

   closed, exclusionary partisan primaries with a top-two open primary system.

   SQ836 is seeking placement on the November 2026 statewide election ballot.

   
   

   The League of Women Voters is a longtime civic organization that promotes

   informed and active participation in democracy. While we’re partnering

   on this educational May 6 event in Stillwater, and share a desire for full civic

   engagement opportunities and equal voting access for all Oklahomans,

   these organizations are separate. Our cooperation is a great example of how

   everyday Oklahomans can connect and build meaningful consensus.

   
   

2. What do we need to know about the guest speakers?

   I’ll be one of two speakers, and I’ll be sharing my perspective as the founder

   of Oklahoma United but also as a fourth-generation Oklahoman and a regular

   working mom. I see our politics at the State Capitol as divorced from the issues

   that we Oklahomans really care about and which impact our lives. Voters, especially

   young voters, are disillusioned and angry at what they see as self-serving partisan politics and failures to act. Older voters are equally disappointed and exhausted. Our voter participation rate is consistently ranked at or near the bottom of the country, and our state is stagnating in many ways because of this disconnect. The only way out of this scary traffic circle is for the people to regain their voices and know they are valued, and that’s what we’re trying to change.

   
   

   I’ll be joined by former State Senator AJ Griffin, who is the CEO of the Potts Family Foundation, a non-profit that helps Oklahoma children and families. AJ can speak directly to how our closed primary system is distorting incentives for lawmakers, and

   how open primaries can help get them back on track. Of course, this isn’t a lecture. We’ll be having an active give and take from the audience and we hope that many of our “speakers” are the Stillwater residents who come out to join this conversation.

3. What is the main difference between how primaries work now and how they would work if SQ 836 passes? Could you describe what that ballot would look like?

   Right now, Oklahoma primaries are closed. Republicans vote in the Republican primary and, while Democrats and Libertarians now allow independent voters to participate, they don’t have to. In the vast majority of Oklahoma elections, a closed primary effectively decides who the next office holder is, so large numbers of voters never get a meaningful say.

   
   

   State Question 836 would change that. Under SQ 836, all candidates for an office

   would appear on a single primary ballot, alongside their party registration.

   
   

   Every registered voter – Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or independent – would vote in the same June election. It doesn’t matter how you’re registered; everyone gets the same ballot, and the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, would advance to

   the general election. This is very similar to how we already run our municipal elections, so it will be familiar to voters.

   
   

4. What is the main purpose of open primaries?

   The main arguments are simple: transparency, fairness, and accountability.

   Every voter in Oklahoma should have the right to help choose who represents

   them – especially in elections paid for with public tax dollars. Right now, our system gives political parties the power to limit participation in primaries, even though those elections are publicly funded. That means hundreds of thousands of voters – particularly the more than 480,000 registered independents – are often excluded from the most decisive stage of the election.

   
   

   In many parts of the state, races are effectively decided in the primary, not the

   general election. When only party members can vote in those contests, the broader

   public is left without a real voice in who ends up representing them. That’s not how democracy should work.

   
   

   Moving to open primaries also makes politicians more accountable. Instead

   of catering only to the most partisan voters in their base, candidates will

   have to appeal to a broader cross-section of the public.

   
   

   That means more consensus- building, more focus on solving problems, and less

   incentive to campaign from the extremes.

   
   

   Ultimately, SQ 836 is about strengthening democracy by ensuring that

   the people – not just party insiders – get to decide who represents them.

5. Where can we learn more?

   You can learn more about Oklahoma United at www.ok-united.