Oklahoma: Brief filed to State Supreme Court in Enid Commissioner appeal

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has fast-tracked Enid Commissioner Ben Ezzell's appeal of a judge's rejection of his attempt to throw out a recall against him. The recall has been set for February 9, 2021.

The recall date will be on the same day as the new elections for commissioner. Ezzell is termed out, so the race will be focused on the last three months of his term. One of the candidates to replace Ezzell is a lead petitioner in the recall. 

The issue was Ezzell's support for the city to enforce the state's COVID-19 alert system and his criticism of the police chief for a failure to enforce a mask mandate proposal designed to combat the pandemic.

Ezzell is arguing that the district court was incorrect in not requiring a strict truthfulness test in the petition, instead going with an "implicitly complied" one. He also argues that it does not contain language and warnings as required by a 1998 court ruling (Clapsaddle v. Blevins).