Oklahoma
Election audits wrap up across Oklahoma counties
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CLAREMORE, Okla. — Each county in the state is required to run an audit after each election, and each county’s election board except one conducted an audit for the June 18 Primary Election from July 16-18.
The Oklahoma State Election Board defines these as being done “for the purpose of maintaining the security of the election system by ensuring that voting devices and software used in a particular election correctly tabulated votes.”
Out of Oklahoma’s 15 most populous counties, Rogers County boasts the honor of highest voter registration at 84.6 percent.
It also makes for a tedious audit process, all done by hand.
Julie Dermody has led her county’s audits as Secretary after each election since it became required by law in 2019.
Although June’s primary had low turnout Dermody makes it a point to stream on Facebook Live every time it’s performed.
“We want everyone to be able to see it. We want to be totally transparent as we’re doing it,” Dermody said.
Marshall Cook didn’t know these audits were a thing, but is happy with the extra step.
“It’d be nice to know all the votes were counted properly and that there’s not dead people voting or you know, extra votes being added or whatever. It’s nice,” Cook told 2 News.
The audit is also a good warm-up for the post-presidential audit, which will be the state’s first time doing one post-pandemic, Dermody added.
“We always have that hand-marked paper ballot that is kept under lock and key and under seal that we can go back to to make sure that everything is right,” she said.
The state election board typically releases each county’s audit to the public on its website within a day or two of them being turned in.
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Oklahoma
COLUMN: Poachers Came for Oklahoma Coaches, But Brent Venables’ Culture Fought Them Off
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COLUMN: Venables on staff retention, culture
DALLAS — Oklahoma coach Brent Venables had a few nervous moments in the offseason.
Perhaps none as nervous as when Ohio State tried to hire running backs coach DeMarco Murray.
“That’s the one that y’all know of,” Venables said Tuesday when I asked him to recount the events that almost led one of the program’s most decorated players to Columbus. “And there’s been plenty more.”
Murray was a Sooner, is a Sooner, and apparently will remain a Sooner as long as Venables will have him — that is, as long as he continues to recruit running backs at an elite level and coach them up in Norman.
“DeMarco has been in high demand,” Venables said in a small-group interview at SEC Media Days.
So Murray got a nice raise, from $500,000 a year to $575,000, and received a contract extension through 2026.
When asked about the effort to retain Murray, Venables offered a sideways explanation for why OU assistants seem to get raises and extension every year.
“I got a whole staff of that happening,” Venables said. “ … There were several this year. Several. It’s the NFL, it’s other college teams, and people just, they’re gonna — they don’t know if you’re gonna say yes unless you ask.”
Venables said he’s run out of fingers trying to count the OU assistants who’ve had job offers.
“More than one hand,” he said, “where — this season alone.”
He said some of his staff don’t even bother to tell him they’re being courted elsewhere.
“We’ve had several coaches that have been approached,” he said, “and they didn’t even come to me and say, you know, ‘Hey, Coach, I got this opportunity.’ You know? Because they know I might blow him up like, ‘Man, why would you even think about that? That’d be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.’ ”
Venables was laughing when he delivered that last line, but he was also dead serious.
“I have that to me, that kind of cactus mindset, you know — heavy sun, no water; that’s what should be for everybody,” he admits.
There aren’t many factors more important to building and sustaining a program than consistency on the coaching staff. Just ask Bob Stoops. Stoops had some a little early turnover, but his staff settled quickly and stayed static for the long haul. It was when he started consistently losing coordinators — Mark Mangino, Chuck Long, Mike Stoops, Kevin Wilson — that winning started to get harder.
So Venables — a key member of those Stoops staffs for 12 years and a vital element of Dabo Swinney’s dynastic tenure at Clemson for a decade — understands inherently how important retaining a staff can be.
“I’m very thankful,” Venables said. “Got an amazingly talented staff. That’s what I’m most proud of, is they have an appreciation for what Oklahoma is all about.”
Establishing a lasting culture at Oklahoma — additive to what Stoops built, beyond what Lincoln Riley had — has become one of Venables top priorities as he heads into his third season.
“There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious and there’s nothing wrong with maybe wanting to create a little more value for yourself and maximizing your value in that space,” Venables said. “I’m appreciative of our administration for being aggressive and responding every step of the way.
“Since I’ve been here, in a very short amount of time, Joe Castiglione and President Harroz have given us everything we need to retain our guys and put them at the market value that they deserve. As leaders, they recognize that’s the cost of doing business.”
Venables had to replace his defensive coordinator and linebackers coach this year, with Zac Alley stepping in for Ted Roof. He promoted Seth Littrell to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after Jeff Lebby became Mississippi State’s head coach. And he hired Doug Deakin to step in as special teams analyst when Jay Nunez took a coaching job at Alabama.
That’s a pretty good amount of turnover for one year. But among position coaches, everyone else is back in 2024, and Venables couldn’t be happier.
“I value people,” he said. “It’s a people business. More important than your acumen is finding great people that will align with your beliefs, your values, and you’ve got to be talented, too.”
Oklahoma
Retired Oklahoma Secret Service Agent Reacts to New Details in Trump Assassination Attempt
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Law enforcement sources have revealed to CBS News that witnesses and local police identified and saw 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks at least two minutes before the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
Todd Lamb, former Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma and a retired Secret Service agent, reacted to the new details stated in the case.
“When I was a site supervisor during a presidential campaign as a Secret Service agent, if I saw them with a scope or those who were working with me or for me saw someone with a scope, that person would be intercepted, they would be patted down, they would be interviewed, and they would be escorted from the premises,” Lamb said.
He also reacted to reports that the shooter was confronted by a local police officer, who fell from the roof after the shooter aimed their gun at the officer. Law enforcement sources tell CBS News that police were staged inside the building, but not on top of it.
“Tactically, that’s not how you do it,” Lamb said. “How it was done, and the reports we’re learning now, tactically that is an extreme misstep, obviously. What you do to prevent that is secure the building, make sure nobody crawls on the building, and, having counter sniper or any law enforcement inside the structure, that’s of no benefit whatsoever.”
He credited the Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service for now choosing to give protection to independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is lagging behind in polls.
Oklahoma
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