A legal challenge to Oklahoma’s new voter-identification law survived a venue hurdle Thursday. A lawsuit filed in June in Tulsa County against the state Election Board asserts that the impact of that law, approved by state voters in November, creates “serious interference” with the unrestricted right to vote for voters who “do not have appropriate identifying credentials or who are unwilling to accept any level of this statewide infringement on the right to vote.”
On behalf of the Election Board, the state Attorney General’s Office has maintained that Tulsa County was an improper venue to file suit against the Election Board.
In a filing, Assistant Attorney General Martha Kulmacz asserted that the case should be dismissed because Tulsa County lacks venue or that it should be transferred to Oklahoma County, the proper venue for a suit against the Election Board.
At a hearing Thursday, Tulsa County District Judge Jefferson Sellers denied the motion to dismiss the suit on the basis of improper venue. Sellers indicated that the case can proceed in a Tulsa County courtroom.
Full Article: Challenge to Oklahoma voter-ID law advances | Tulsa World.