Those seeking to overturn Oklahoma’s current election system and replace it with a California-style “top two” election system often claim they represent a “grassroots” movement.

But the roots of one of the major backers of that proposal are planted firmly in New York soil, not Oklahoma.

Oklahoma’s current election system allows Republican voters to pick Republican nominees in party primaries while Democratic voters do the same in their party’s primaries, with the two parties’ candidates then facing off in the November general election along with any independent candidates who file.

But under the proposed State Question 836, all Oklahoma candidates—Democrats, Republicans, and independents—would appear on a single ballot, with all voters participating. The two candidates receiving the most votes would then proceed to the November general election, even if they are both members of the same political party.

That would largely mirror California elections, where voters’ November choices are often limited to two members of the same party, and even statewide races have involved only two Democratic candidates.

An initiative-petition effort is underway to collect 172,993 valid signatures to place SQ 836 on the ballot in Oklahoma.

An out-of-state organization, Open Primaries, is a major player in that effort and lists Oklahoma as one of the state campaigns it is backing, stating that the Oklahoma effort “builds on ten years of conversations and organizing in the Sooner State.”

According to the group’s website, Open Primaries Senior Vice President Jeremy Gruber was present at the Oklahoma Capitol when the petition for SQ 836 was submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office for approval, and the group declares that it is “proud to support and champion the Vote Yes 836 campaign.”

The website for Open Primaries lists 244 Madison Avenue, #1106 in New York as its headquarters.

Influence Watch notes that Open Primaries President John Opdycke “has worked for independent and radical-left political candidates and organizations throughout his career,” including his work on the independent presidential campaign of Lenora Fulani, “an avowed Marxist of the New Alliance Party.”

Some Oklahoma officials who have been the public face of the pro-SQ 836 effort have ties to the New York-based Open Primaries group, including Margaret Kobos, who founded Oklahoma United. Kobos is listed as spokesperson for the New York-based Open Primaries group on its website.

In addition, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt has also worked with the group, authoring an introduction to an Open Primaries report in which Holt praised the California-style election system promoted by the New York-based Open Primaries organization.