Treat accused People Not Politicians of spreading false information about the legislative redistricting process by saying the Legislature conducts redistricting "behind closed doors." The Senate is committed to an open and transparent redistricting process that allows for citizen involvement, he said.

"It may be a new proposal, but its the same old, misdirected idea: a redistricting coup to rearrange Oklahoma to make it easier for liberal politicians to get elected," Treat said. "This is a poor solution in search of a nonexistent problem and hopefully will be rejected by Oklahomans.

People Not Politicians withdrew and tweaked its initiative petition so, if passed, the independent redistricting commission can get started as soon as possible instead of having to wait until Oklahoma's next redistricting cycle in 2030.

The group initially filed its initiative petition in October 2019, but was held up by two court challenges seeking to have the measure bounced from the ballot. When the time came to collect the 177,958 signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot, Oklahoma's Secretary of State had halted signature collection due to the pandemic.

The redistricting petition details the selection process for choosing commissioners, their qualifications, redistricting criteria and what happens if commissioners cannot agree on new maps.

The Legislature would be forbidden from altering the commission or trying to usurp its redistricting powers.

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Question of independent redistricting in Oklahoma could land on 2022 ballot - Oklahoman.com