Protesters are in the building. pic.twitter.com/35KgJfVxHM
Tulsa’s Black leaders say the challenges were meant to disenfranchise their community, who have faced historic racism and denial of the right to vote in the US.
State Representative Monroe Nichols told the Tulsa World the challenge was “a great example of Black people voting in record numbers, with a coalition of people who look different, who are being told, ‘No, their votes didn’t count ”.
Lankford said in his letter on Thursday that in proposing an electoral commission, he never intended “to disenfranchise any voter or state”.
“I should have recognized how what I said and what I did could be interpreted by many of you,” Lankford continued. “I deeply regret my blindness to that perception, and for that I am sorry.”