By the numbers: 2455 pieces of legislation; GOP & Independent registrations surge
Published: January 19th, 2013
OKLAHOMA CITY — There is a lot more to public policy than numbers, but data can tell at least part of the story in Oklahoma.
Two more-than-bite-sized nuggets to whet the appetites of policy-watchers in Oklahoma and elsewhere: Nearly 2,500 legislative proposals have been submitted for consideration during the 2013 legislative session; while Republicans and Independents continue to surge in voters registration numbers.
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First, the raw numbers of bills and joint resolutions proposed for this year.
January 17 was the last day for bill filing at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City, and the results are in.
A total of 2,378 bills have been filed in the state Legislature: 1,259 in the state House, and 1,119 in the Senate.
In addition, state representatives submitted 43 joint resolutions, while senators put 34 resolutions in the hopper.
Without considering coordinated submissions, where language is similar or identical for measures submitted in the separate chambers, legislators will tackle the grand total of 2,455 proposals when the 2013 legislative session begins on Monday, February 4.
According to the House Clerk, in 2012 a total of 962 bills and 26 joint resolutions were under initial consideration. On the Senate side last year saw 972 bills and 45 joint resolutions at the session’s start, with 753 bills and 41 resolutions carried over from 2011.
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The latest compilation from Oklahoma Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax documents anew the Republican surge to possible majority status in voter registration. Should Republicans eventually fall short of outright majority status, they seem on track to catch – soon – the Democratic party in raw number of adherents.
As of January 15, Oklahoma had a total of 2,116,186 registered voters.
That included 962,072 Democrats, 897,663 Republicans, 256,450 Independents, and one (1) member of Americans Elect.
At this point in 2012, the state had 2,000,610 registered voters, with 943,283 of those Democrats, 828,257 Republicans and 229,070 Independents.
The net Republican increase in 12 months was 69,406 registrants. Democrats had a net increase of 18,789, while those with Independent status increased 27,380.
Election Secretary Ziriax noted, in a statement sent to CapitolBeatOK, “Twenty years ago, in 1993, Democrats made up 63.7 percent of registered voters. A year ago, Democrats were 47.1 percent of Oklahoma’s registered voters.
Today, Democrats are 45.5 percent of registered voters.
“Republicans comprised 33.3 percent of all registered voters in 1993 and 41.4 percent of registered voters a year ago. 42.4% of registered voters are Republicans today.
“Independents surged from just 3% of voters in 1993 to 11.5 percent of voters a year ago. Today, Independents comprise 12.1 percent of registered voters in Oklahoma.”
Below is an updated chart giving the recent partisan and independent voter numbers of Oklahoma.
Year Democrat Republican Independent Total
1996 1,112,560 624,240 86,948 1,823,748
1997 1,171,620 693,076 122,139 1,986,982
1998 1,158,754 691,942 139,626 1,990,591
1999 1,183,523 718,534 157,760 2,059,817
2000 1,189,332 734,382 174,649 2,098,750
2001 1,233,481 803,908 202,266 2,240,681
2002 1,079,298 729,393 199,164 2,008,036
2003 1,099,458 758,275 214,887 2,072,935
2004 1,022,442 720,121 195,334 1,938,377
2005 1,100,263 822,131 227,163 2,149,557
2006 1,021,053 778,405 209,515 2,008,973
2007 1,045,490 805,607 224,464 2,075,561
2008 1,012,594 790,713 219,230 2,022,537
2009 1,077,616 860,378 246,002 2,183,996
1-2010 999,855 813,158 225,607 2,038,620
9-2010 998,139 831,706 233,768 2,063,613
1-2011 999,943 849,332 240,855 2,090,130
6-2012 942,987 851,759 235,321 2,030,073
9-2012 950,223 873,351 244,562 2,068,152
11-2012 964,847 895,625 254,223 2,114,713
1-2013 962,072 897,663 256,451* 2,116,186
* This number includes “America Elects” party members. The group lost ballot status before the 2012 November election and their registrations have been switched to the independent category.
You may contact Patrick B. McGuigan at Patrick@capitolbeatok.com and follow us on
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Twitter: @capitolbeatok.