Ballot box, spring 2012, v.39 no.1

              C o u n t y S e c r e t a r i e s C a n ’ t B e R e l a t e d t o C a n d i d a t e s
by Paul Ziriax, Secretary
In this issue:
Where Are My
Ballots?
2
A Vision of No
Lines
3
Election
Equipment
4
OEMS
Reminders
6
Oklahoma State Election Board Spring 2012 Volume XXXIX/Issue I
The Bal lot Box
(Continued on Page …6)
County Election Board Secretaries, Members, and Alternates who are
related to candidates will be impacted in 2012 by legislation signed
into law last year.
Senate Bill 214 amended 26 O.S., Section 2-132 and states, “No person
shall serve as a member, alternate member or secretary of a county
election board at any election in which he or she is related within the
second degree by either consanguinity or affinity to a candidate for
office on the ballot in the county.” "Consanguinity" means "blood"
relative. "Affinity" means relative "by marriage." "Second degree"
includes only spouses, parents, children, brothers, sisters,
grandparents, and grandchildren.
The prohibition also applies to precinct and absentee voting boards.
For secretaries, this law likely means an unpaid leave of absence
during an election cycle so long as such a relative is a candidate for
office. The State Election Board is in contact with the State Attorney
General’s Office to determine exactly how this statute should be
enforced.
The law takes Oklahoma back to the standard that was in place prior
to mid-1990s, when the law was changed so the spouse of a county
commissioner could be appointed as a County Election Board
secretary. 
We l c omi n g a Ne w S e c r e t a r y
by Fran Roach, Assistant Secretary
With the start of the new year, a new County Election Board Secretary took office in
Garfield County. Roy Schneider was appointed by the State Election Board to fill the
position of Secretary effective January 1, 2012.
Born in Chicago and raised in Dallas, Roy has had a varied career and has lived in many
places. During his service in the Army, he lived in Korea and Germany. He then settled in