HB 1456 Oklahoma House · 2026 Regular Session

Elections; Elections Act of 2025; effective date.

HB 1456 allows registered Oklahoma voters or candidates to sue in the state's name when election officials fail to enforce election laws. It requires a written demand to the official within one year of discovering a violation, with a lawsuit filed within six months if the official doesn’t act. If successful, the state receives most of any award, but the suing voter or candidate gets 30% plus their legal fees. The bill takes effect November 1, 2025, and is currently under review by the Civil Judiciary committee.

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Last action Feb 10, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Proposed Policy Committee Substitute 1 · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from its original introduction to a proposed policy committee substitute version, replacing the entire measure with revised language that adds significant enforcement mechanisms for election law violations. The original bill established the Elections Act of 2025 as a noncodified statute, while the amended version creates codified law with a new enforcement provision allowing registered candidates or voters to sue on behalf of the state when election officials fail to act.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a general elections act to include specific enforcement provisions that allow private parties to bring civil actions for election law violations, with the state as plaintiff.

ENFORCEMENT

Added new enforcement mechanism allowing registered candidates or voters to institute civil actions in the name of the State of Oklahoma when proper officers fail to prosecute election law violations.

REQUIREMENT

Established a one-year deadline for making written demand after discovering evidence of election law violations, and a six-month window to file civil suits after the officer fails to act.

FISCAL

Created a compensation structure where 30% of meritorious award amounts are paid to the registered candidate or voter who brings the action, with the remaining 70% going to the State of Oklahoma.

TECHNICAL

Changed the bill from noncodified to codified law, moving it to Section 16-127 of Title 26 in the Oklahoma Statutes.

Changed bill title from 'Elections Act of 2025' to 'Proposed Policy Committee Substitute' and updated sponsor name from Crosswhite Hader to Hardin.

DEFINITION

Added definition for 'registered candidate or voter' to include any registered candidate or voter affected by a violation of state election laws at the state, county, city, district, or political subdivision level.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

Referred to Civil Judiciary

lower

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

Referred to Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight

lower

Feb 3, 2025

Introduced

First Reading

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors