Lawmaker seeks Oklahoma constitutional convention

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A state lawmaker wants voters to decide whether to call a constitutional convention to consider possible changes to Oklahoma’s Constitution.

Republican Rep. Gary Banz of Midwest City will ask the House Rules Committee Wednesday to pass legislation that would send the issue of a constitutional convention to a vote of the people.

The measure says the state Constitution requires that voters be asked whether a constitutional convention should be convened every 20 years. But the last proposal calling for a constitutional convention was submitted to a vote of the people in March 1970.

A public referendum to eliminate the requirement that a constitutional convention proposal be submitted to the people every 20 years was defeated during a general election on Nov. 8, 1994.