General election voter turnout declines in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma voter turnout has fallen from the previous two major election years, despite key statewide races appearing on the ballot Tuesday.

Just over 45% of the state’s 2.46 million registered voters participated in the 2026 general election, the Oklahoma State Election Board reported. Oklahoma’s 1.3 million registered Republicans outnumber the 627,500 Democrats by nearly 2-to-1, according to Election Board data released this month, and another 500,000 voters are registered as independents.

Tuesday’s turnout saw a decrease from the last time governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state superintendent and other statewide offices were up for election in 2022, when slightly more than 50% of registered voters cast ballots.

Buoyed by a presidential race, the 2024 general election drew more than 64% of registered Oklahoma voters.

About 1.11 million voters cast ballots in this year’s race for governor, electing Republican Mike Mazzei over Democrat Cyndi Munson and three independents. 

Mazzei won with 52% of the vote while Munson carried 45%. 

Other statewide elections received slightly fewer votes than the governor’s race.

In 2022, when Gov. Kevin Stitt won reelection, 1.15 million Oklahomans cast ballots in the gubernatorial race. Stitt could not run again this year because of term limits.

State questions on the November ballot received far more participation than those up for a vote in June and August.

One million Oklahomans voted Tuesday on State Questions 845 and 847, rejecting both. SQ 845 would have made changes to the Judicial Nominating Commission, and SQ 847 would have limited the growth of property taxes.

In the June primary election, a ballot measure to raise Oklahoma’s minimum wage received about 630,000 votes and ultimately failed. Even fewer people voted on state questions during the August runoff election.