Court Advances Free Market Optical Ballot Push
Oklahoma Supreme Court allows ballot question effort to move ahead
by Justin Wingerter
A petition seeking to allow optometrists and eyeglass retailers to operate in large retail stores like Wal-Mart can move ahead after the Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected an effort to stop it Tuesday.
The high court’s decision is a victory for Oklahomans for Consumer Freedom, which has lobbied for the change. Currently, customers cannot visit an optometrist and then fill their prescription within the same store.
The Oklahoma Association for Optometric Physicians challenged OCF’s efforts to place the matter on a ballot, arguing its effects on optometrists and opticians violated the Oklahoma Constitution. Under the constitution, state questions can embrace only one subject.
“Whereas here — two separate and distinct, though interrelated occupations are impacted — we find that no unconstitutional logrolling has occurred,” wrote Justice Tom Colbert, using a term for placing multiple subjects on one ballot question.