A Tulsa County judge rejected an election-fraud lawsuit filed by outgoing Sen. Cody Rogers last week, ruling that the legislator failed to provide sufficient evidence that his Republican primary challenger Aaron Reinhardt violated state election laws.
In the petition filed June 21 with the Oklahoma State Election Board, Rogers alleged that Reinhardt violated Oklahoma’s ballot harvesting laws by including information on how to apply for an absentee ballot on a mailer sent to Republican voters in Senate District 37. State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax ordered the matter be set for a hearing in Tulsa County District Court.
Special District Judge David Guten dismissed the ‘frivolous’ case on June 25, deciding that Rogers failed to provide specific evidence of irregularities that could have changed the outcome of the election. Reinhardt won the June 18 election by 85 votes over Rogers and will face independent Andrew Nutter in the November general election.
State law forbids political campaigns or organizers from returning absentee ballots on behalf of voters, but does not restrict who can share voting information.
Rogers, who announced he would not seek reelection last August but reversed course in March, faced scrutiny from the Attorney General’s office ahead of the election for failing to adequately report campaign expenditures.
He called the press release asking him to update his filing a political attack, noting that Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s chief of staff was connected to the campaign firm working on behalf of Reinhardt. The attorney general’s office denied the claim, stating that they have received complaints from constituents in Rogers’ Senate District 37, Oklahoma Voice reported.
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— Keaton Ross
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