In re Initiative Petition No. 384

A petition for a ballot initiative was certified by the Oklahoma secretary of state for the First Class Education for Oklahoma Act. That certification opened a period for protests, at which time a group of Protestants argued that the initiative was invalid because the so-called gist, which was required to be printed at the top of each signature page of the petition for the initiative, was misleading and not sufficiently informative to voters. The proposed act required that every school district expend at least 65 percent of its operational expenditures on classroom instruction. Schools that did not meet this criterion could apply for exemptions but would be subject to possible sanctions involving withholding of state funds and the practical effect of forcing school closures. The gist discussed the 65 percent requirement and went into thorough detail regarding what would constitute classroom expenditures but declined to list the possibility of waivers or sanctions, or potential long-range impacts on schools. In two prior cases, the gist had been found insufficient by failing to make signatories aware of the changes being made and not being informative enough to prevent deception in the voting process. The Protestants argued that the gist of the First Class Education for Oklahoma Act was invalid because (1) it failed to disclose possible negative consequences and (2) it failed to discuss sanctions and waivers by the state for noncompliance. This matter was heard directly by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.