The lines for early voting were long ones in Canadian County. The wait has been over an hour.
And Denise Crosswhite Hader, the Republican incumbent in House District 41, waited in line Thursday on the second day of early voting that has opened in Canadian County.
Many people waited more than an hour to vote, according to reports.
Statewide, there were more than 155,000 early votes cast during the first two days early voting was offered, according to the Oklahoma State Election Board.
On Monday, Nov. 4, the state election board reported a total of 292,684 ballots cast in-person at early voting locations showing early votes from 182,562 Republicans, 74,183 Democrats, 34,396 Independents and 1,543 Libertarians.
Also, Nov. 4, the election board reported 5,894 early votes were received from mailed in ballots in Canadian County. Of the Canadian County mailed-in votes, there were 3,318 Republican votes, 1,675 Democrats, and 871 Independents who mailed in ballots that were received.
In Kingfisher County, there were 169 mail-in ballots received by the Canadian County Election Board. Of those, 126 mailed-in ballots were from Republicans, 34 from Democrats and nine mailed-in ballots from Independents were received.
Early voting totals for the first two days were not available from Canadian County Election Board. But it was busy, election board clerk Gabe Spruill said. The wait in El Reno for early voting was about 30 minutes and the wait at the Yukon early voting site was about an hour. People were going to El Reno to cast early ballots instead of Yukon because of the wait, Spruill said.
Joni and Tim O’Connor of Yukon tried to cast their early ballots closer to home at first in Yukon. But then they drove to El Reno to vote early Thursday. Tim O’Connor took a selfie of the couple after voting as he sat in the driver’s seat of their vehicle, parked safely in the El Reno Public Safety Center before driving away.
“We went by there early to vote, and they (Cowan Campus) were packed. I couldn’t find a parking spot. They were lined up around the block and around the parking lot. We heard it was less congestion
“I was satisfied with it in El Reno but I don’t how they are getting by in Yukon,” Tim O’Connor said.
He said he thinks lines will still be long on Tuesday, Nov. 5 too.
“I think they will be long no matter when you vote,” Tim O’Connor said.
In Canadian County, early voting is offered at the Canadian Valley Technology Center Cowan Campus, 1701 S Czech Hall Road in Yukon, 73099, and at the El Reno Public Safety Center, 2707 Faith Ave. in El Reno, 73036.
In Kingfisher County, there had been 616 early votes cast on Wednesday and 500 on Thursday, an election board official said. The wait was not long in Kingfisher County at the early voting site at the county fairgrounds.
Meanwhile, Hader will face a Democrat, Mike Bockus, on the ballot for voters who head to the polls for the Tuesday, Nov. 5 general and presidential elections.
Hader faces Bockus, who is a Democrat in a district that is heavily Republican who is running for the second time.
On Friday, Bockus said the early voting lines in Oklahoma County were much longer than in Canadian County. He said the wait at Mitch Park in Edmond was three hours for early voters.
Hader, of Piedmont, has campaigned this fall with education issues. Her latest campaign mailer highlights her votes to support income tax cuts and inflation relief, assistance for law enforcement combatting illegal immigration, voting to prohibit Chinese ownership of Oklahoma land, voting to give sheriff’s authority to remove squatters and she authored HB 3013 that passed the House to stop trafficking of chemical abortion pills.
Hader defeated a Republican challenger, Shea Bracken, in the June Republican primary.
One of her campaign’s direct mailer reads, “Look forward to back to school.”
She has empowered parents to choose the best school for their child, increased education funding to record levels and raised teacher pay, “retaining our brightest educators,” the campaign mailer reads.
The district covers all of the City of Piedmont, and mostly Canadian County with parts in Kingfisher, Logan and Oklahoma counties. Cashion and northwest Oklahoma City, including Surrey Hills, are in the district.
A district map shows the southern boundary as mostly Northwest Expressway, with Surrey Hills, between Cemetery and Sara Road just south of Northwest Expressway. The district boundary on the east is near Danforth Road / NW 192 and just west of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Hader was elected in 2018. She grew up in Piedmont and worked in U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook’s office.
The Oklahoma State Election Board shows that in House District 41 there are 27,753 registered voters.
There are 16,509 Republicans in the district, including 9,004 registered Republicans living in Canadian County and 711 in Kingfisher County. There are 5,991 registered Republicans residing in northwest Oklahoma County within the HD 41 borders.
There are also 5,706 Democrats, 5,263 Independents and 275 Libertarians in HD 41, the Oklahoma Election Board reported in January 2024.
Who is Mike Bockus?
Bockus ran against Crosswhite Hader in 2022 and lost. This is his second election. He said he wants to encourage voter registration. While canvassing door-to-door in the district, many people do not know who their state representative is. Bockus, a computer science professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, tells them he is running.
“I’m knocking on doors visiting people and trying to get them more engaged. There are many people who do not have a clue as to who their representative is or who they are voting for. Many people do not choose a person over their party. As a Democrat we have a lot more common ground than they think,” Bockus said. He said he supported the elimination of the state grocery tax, as one example.
“I am just trying to point out that they do have a choice,” Bockus said.
The 2022 election results show Crosswhite Hader defeated Bockus with 67.52% of the vote compared to 32.48% for Bockus. The total was 9,641 votes for Hader, 4,637 for Bockus.
Bockus said he has seen the demographics change a little in the past two years with more development in northwest Oklahoma City in Oklahoma County and in the Piedmont area in Canadian County.
“I’m in this for the long haul. I’ve seen the district move as urban sprawl makes the district more populated it moves closer to the center,” Bockus said.
What to know about voting
Early voting started Wednesday, Oct. 30 before the general election Tuesday, Nov. 5
Early voting in Oklahoma is available to all voters, the Oklahoma State Election Board reports.
Early voting starts 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30, Thursday, Oct. 31, and Friday, Nov. 1 and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
In Canadian County, early voting is offered at the Canadian Valley Technology Center Cowan Campus, 1701 S Czech Hall Road in Yukon, 73099, and at the El Reno Public Safety Center, 2707 Faith Ave. in El Reno, 73036.
In Kingfisher County, early voting is at the MACenter Building, Kingfisher County Fairgrounds, 300 S. 13th Street, Kingfisher, 73750, during the same hours.
Early voting in Oklahoma is available with no excuse needed, the state election board reports.
Early voting is offered from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday immediately preceding a state or federal primary, runoff, general or Presidential Preferential primary election.
Early voting is offered from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday preceding the general election.
On the day of election, voters can go to their precinct polling places. An Oklahoma ID or valid ID is required, or a sworn affidavit must be signed at the precinct.
Read The Piedmont-Surrey Gazette and follow piedmontnewsonline.com for updates to election results, local news, and sports coverage.
