From staff, AP reports
news@joplinglobe.com
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly endorsed all four ballot measures Tuesday.
State Question 742 received more than 80 percent of the vote — 951,237 to 232,675 — with 2050 of 2231 of the state precinct’s reporting. The measure proposed a new section to the Oklahoma Constitution declaring that all Oklahomans have right to “hunt, trap and fish” subject to reasonable regulation.
Senate Co-President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, who authored the bill to place the question on the ballot, said the measure was a proactive step to prevent outside groups from interfering with Oklahoma’s hunting and fishing laws.
“There have been a number of states that have passed restrictions on hunting and fishing, and so we worked with the (National Rifle Association) and other hunting and fishing groups to protect those rights here in Oklahoma,” said Coffee, R-Oklahoma City.
Voters also gave a lift to the state’s winemaking industry with State Question 743, which allows winemakers in Oklahoma and other states — with some restrictions — to sell wine directly to liquor stores and restaurants. That measure received nearly 79 percent of the vote, 929,680 to 251,349
Currently, wineries are limited to sales at fairs and festivals, unless they go through a liquor wholesaler.
“What it’s going to do is allow the small wineries trying to start up in rural Oklahoma a better profit margin to work with,” said Bob McBratney, owner of the Stone Bluff Cellars winery in Tulsa.
State Question 735 gives a household personal property tax exemption to veterans and their spouses if the veteran is 100 percent disabled because of an injury that occurred during military action or through a disease contracted while in active service. The measure takes effect on Jan. 1. It received nearly 85 percent of the vote, 1,009,079 to 178,952
State Question 741 requires a person or business to file an application with the county assessor to get an exemption from property taxes, which now is not always required. The issued was endorsed by nearly 68 percent of the voters, 790,615 to 376,734.
