A report on the processing of SQ832

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State Question 832, a proposal to increase the minimum wage in Oklahoma, cleared the threshold for the ballot set for 2026. Here are a few of the processing improvements made since SQ820 in 2022 that were achieved:

1. Having increased the number of processors from 10 for SQ820 to 20 for SQ832, the entire processing was completed in four weeks. In that period of time, over 18,000 petition sheets were scanned, and more than 180,000 signature lines were optically read and visually verified.
2. A new signature line review was incorporated in the process which increased data accuracy and decreased the time spent reviewing each record.
3. Duplicate signers were discoverable with changes in the law and more than three thousand duplicates were identified and removed. Most of the duplicates were signers who signed the petition only twice; one signer signed the petition SIX TIMES.
4. Advanced programming reduced the number of records to be reviewed by setting logical data parameters.
5. Matching and reporting times, typically at the end of the entire processing period, were reduced by nightly processing of signature lines with the voter file.
6. Fewer petition sheets were rejected during the scanning process due to better calibration of scanners, despite folded corners, staple rips, stains, or holes in the pages as are typical with "out in the field" conditions.