Thoughts from Polly's Granddaughter: Cherokee election

Showing posts with label Cherokee election. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Election 2015 - Be the Change

The closer we get to the Cherokee Nation election, the more private messages I get through Facebook and the more emails I get through my blog. It's truly sad because I'm just a blogger and someone who admins a few Facebook groups, but people know they can trust me to speak out (when they can't) and protect their privacy so they won't be retaliated against for sharing their stories.

The current Cherokee Nation leadership has silenced the voices of people out of fear - fear they might lose their jobs; fear they might be denied health care/contract health care; fear they might not get help if they ever need it in housing; fear they might not get selected for an art show; etc...FEAR FEAR FEAR! This has got to stop! I urge every single Cherokee voter to seriously consider your vote this election. Even if life is going great for you, think about the nation AS A WHOLE. We, as a nation, cannot move forward together as long as one person is left behind. And as long as one person is left behind, then we are NOT doing enough.

I don't care who you vote for, but vote and vote wisely. I urge you to think about who the best leader will be for the next four years....who will be able to heal all the damage that has been done.....and who will best allow us Cherokees to be Cherokee again. We deserve better than what we are getting. Use your votes to make your voices be heard. Speak out for yourselves, for your family, for your neighbors, and for our nation. Change won't happen until we MAKE it happen. Be the change.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

UNOFFICIAL Cherokee Nation Election results - 2013

Winners in red.

Election Summary
CHEROKEE NATION ELECTION COMMISSION TRIBAL COUNCIL ELECTION
Saturday, June 22 2013

ELECTION RESULTS(Unofficial)

24 OF 24 PRECINCTS REPORTING
Voter Turnout: 14.29%
Total Ballots: 5841
Non-Partisan
Total Percentage
Total: 1429

1 OF 1 PRECINCTS
AT LARGE TRIBAL COUNCILOR (Vote For 1)
Robin Carter Mayes (NP) 75 5.25%
Ken Luttrell (NP) 84 5.88%
Carole Richmond (NP) 46 3.22%
Curtis (Kurt) West (NP) 52 3.64%
Jack D. Baker (NP) 737 51.57%
Curtis "Muskrat" Bruehl (NP) 435 30.44%
Total Percentage
Total: 594

3 OF 3 PRECINCTS
DISTRICT 2 TRIBAL COUNCILOR (Vote For 1)
Tamsye Dreadfulwater (NP) 189 31.82%
Joe Byrd (NP) 405 68.18%
Total Percentage
Total: 679

3 OF 3 PRECINCTS
DISTRICT 4 TRIBAL COUNCILOR (Vote For 1) (Runoff between Garvin and Dobbins)
Don Garvin (NP) 297 43.74%
Mike Dobbins (NP) 237 34.90%
Justin E. Carlton (NP) 145 21.35%
Total Percentage
Total: 539

3 OF 3 PRECINCTS
DISTRICT 5 TRIBAL COUNCILOR (Vote For 1)
Dink Scott (NP) 190 35.25%
David W. Thornton, Sr. (NP) 305 56.59%
Sherri L. Doolin (NP) 44 8.16%
Total Percentage
Total: 961

4 OF 4 PRECINCTS
DISTRICT 7 TRIBAL COUNCILOR (Vote For 1)
Joe Adair (NP) 433 45.06%
Frankie Hargis (NP) 528 54.94%
Page 1 of 2
Total Percentage
Total: 666

4 OF 4 PRECINCTS
DISTRICT 9 TRIBAL COUNCILOR (Vote For 1)
Lonus Mitchell (NP) 282 42.34%
Curtis G. Snell (NP) 384 57.66%
Total Percentage
Total: 421

6 OF 6 PRECINCTS
DISTRICT 10 TRIBAL COUNCILOR (Vote For 1)
Harley L. Buzzard (NP) 281 66.75%
Nettie Detherage (NP) 140 33.25%
Total Percentage
Total: 552

4 OF 4 PRECINCTS
DISTRICT 15 TRIBAL COUNCILOR (Vote For 1)
Meredith A. Frailey (NP) 255 46.20%
Marilyn Marion Carlene Cooper (NP) 18 3.26%
Janees Taylor (NP) 279 50.54%

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Election Day 2013 in the Cherokee Nation

It's election day for the Cherokee Nation. Vote Cherokees, vote! It is your right, so do it! I will post the election results here as soon as I learn them.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Propaganda and the upcoming Cherokee Nation election

Propaganda is the art of persuasion - persuading others that your 'side of the story' is correct. ~~~ Be careful what you believe. Research everything yourselves.

Ah! Election time again in the Cherokee Nation! If you thought the U.S. elections were nasty, then you have never seen a Cherokee Nation election. There is a boatload of propaganda being spread around about many of the candidates. If you are a voter in the Cherokee Nation who wants to know the truth about any candidate -- do your own research and then decide for yourself who you do or don't want to vote for. Talk to the people who have decided not to vote and ask them why. Do whatever you need to do in order to learn about the candidates and how they were before all this election business started. Please don't believe everything you hear. Remember, the purpose of propaganda is to persuade people into believing what one wants them to believe. It is most effective "at those times when we are too lazy to think for ourselves." Do not fall victim to it. Think for yourself.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Principal Chief Bill John Baker Swearing in Ceremony

*A special thank you to my friend, "Cherokee Orphanchild" for allowing me to use her photos from this historic event.*

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

It's Over! We Do Have a New Chief! Baker Sworn in Tonight!

The Cherokee Nation has dismissed Chad Smith's appeal and Bill John Baker was sworn in as chief of the Cherokee Nation tonight. It has been a long road, but it is finally over! We have a new chief!

Congratulations Bill John Baker!

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

The Granddaughter

Friday, October 14, 2011

Will Smith Ever Concede?

I just read the following press release on the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians facebook page -

"The Carter Center observed the ballots being cast and counted, and saw that the election commission did a good job following the ever-changing election rules.? But the acting chief, on his own, changed the election rules both before and after election day in violation of tribal law and allowed a group of non-citizens vote.? The Carter Center ignored the elephant in the room - an election held in violation of aSupreme Court decision.? And that's what concerns the Cherokee people."---Chief Chad Smith

Will Chad Smith ever accept he lost the election and concede to Bill John Baker? Will he ever stop signing things as "Chief"? Will the Cherokee people ever be able to move beyond this election? Who knows. But if Chad Smith cared about the Cherokee people, he would concede and let the nation heal. The people are mentally exhausted from all this.

Please, Chad Smith, if you really care about us, accept defeat, congratulate your opponent and bow out gracefully. The Cherokee people deserve that.

Those are my thoughts for today.

Thanks for reading.

The Granddaughter

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

It's Official! Bill John Baker has Been Elected Chief of the Cherokee Nation!

Per the Tahlequah Daily Press -

The Cherokee Nation Election Commission has certified the special election results, showing Bill John Baker as the winner.

Congratulations Chief Elect Baker!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Statements from the Candidates for Principal Chief

Statement from Bill John Baker

The Cherokee people have spoken and I am humbled and honored to be selected to lead our great nation the next four years. This has been a difficult and tough campaign for everyone but the campaign is behind us. The sharp words and differences ended the second the last ballot was counted. I want to congratulate Chief Smith and his team on a hard fought effort. And now I ask them and all of Chief Smith's supporters to join me to bring our Nation together.

I've said the entire campaign that we all came from one fire. We are family. Being Cherokee is who you are, not where you are. From Tampa to Tahlequah and San Francisco to Sallisaw we are one Cherokee Nation.

Only together can we take our Nation from good to Great. There is no time to fight each other when we must fight poverty, fight hunger, fight for better schools, fight for our elders. There is plenty to do and taking on each other even for one more minute is not something we can afford to continue.

There will be many announcements over the next few weeks. I plan to build a world-class team of leaders to help run our Nation and we will begin putting together that team immediately. I need your suggestions and I need your help and I ask for your prayers.

Again, I am humbled and honored and I promise you - each and every one of you - that I will be the best Chief possible every minute of every day.

Wado

God Bless you

God Bless the Cherokee Nation

********

Statement from Chad Smith

I’m disappointed not just for myself, but also for the people who worked so hard on this campaign, and the thousands upon thousands of Cherokees who supported this campaign and what we stand for. The Cherokee Nation faces a lot of difficult decisions in the near future, and I will always support the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation.

We will still await the word from the election commission on a certified count, and we’re aware of all the irregularities that came about because our government agreed to change the election rules even after election day. We will know more once things settle out.

I am thankful for the opportunity to serve the Cherokee people and to our staff who worked so hard to build the Cherokee Nation from the chaos when I took office in 1999. I have worked hard these many years and am grateful for each day I represented our Nation so far.

Breaking News! Cherokee Nation Election Results - Baker Wins!

Update - Just in from Election Commission - Unofficial Count
Bill John Baker - 10703
Chad Smith - 9128.
All votes counted. Bill John Baker Chief Elect of Cherokee Nation.

***********

"From the Tahlequah Daily Press facebook page - 10/11/2011

URGENT... UNOFFICIAL CHEROKEE CHIEF RESULTS: Bill John Baker wins, 10,633, to Chad Smith's 9,099. That's 53.89 percent, to 46.11 percent. This does not include approximately 150 challenged ballots, which will be tallied later today."

Read here.

Urgent Cherokee Nation Update!!!! Baker Wins - Unoffical Count

From the Tahlequah Daily Press facebook page

10/11/2011

URGENT... UNOFFICIAL CHEROKEE CHIEF RESULTS: Bill John Baker wins, 10,633, to Chad Smith's 9,099. That's 53.89 percent, to 46.11 percent. This does not include approximately 150 challenged ballots, which will be tallied later today.

"CHEROKEE UPDATE: AG Diane Hammons says the ruling on the Freedmen will NOT affect the outcome of the election: "Our Cherokee Supreme Court ... cannot set aside a federal court order. The orders ... temporarily gave the Freedmen their citizenship rights back. ... The Election Commission is proceeding with counting absentee ballots... until a certified result is reached. ... [We in] the Cherokee Nation... pride ourselves on being true to [our] laws. Chief Crittenden and I agreed to the temporary order because it was far less intrusive ... to our tribal government than what the plaintiffs had sought. We faced the potential loss of federal funding, interference with our governmental relationship with the U.S., and the prospect of not having a determinative election for our chief. ... The temporary order merely restored the disenrolled Freedmen to the status quo they had enjoyed at the time of the original election in June. We had first asked our own Court to reconsider its original decision and restore the status quo, so the issue could be settled under tribal law, as it should be, but the court declined to act."

"URGENT CHEROKEE UPDATE: The Cherokee Nation Supreme Court just issued an order saying the agreement between the tribe and the plaintiffs in the federal court case – namely the Freedmen – is in direct violation of the CN Constitution. In other words, the CN Supreme Court will NOT recognize the Freedmen. If the Freedmen votes are counted today, they will be in direct violation of the Supreme Court order. No word yet from the Election Commission on how this will be handled. Teddye Snell is still on the scene. ~Kim"

The Continuing Cherokee Nation Election

According to the Tahlequah Daily Press facebook page,

"CHEROKEE UPDATE: Absentee ballots for the chief's election have been sorted, removed from the envelopes. Machine counting will begin today after lunch. Officials say it should take no more than two hours. Teddye Snell is on the scene at the Election Commission, and we'll have more information for you as it's made available to us."

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Baker Leading After Count of Walk In and Precinct Voting

The Cherokee Nation election commission has released the vote totals from the walk in and precinct voting (which links are posted to in my earlier blog post today.) Bill John Baker is leading Chad Smith at this point in time, but we are still waiting to learn the vote totals from the absentee votes, which includes many At Large voters who in the past have overwhelmingly supported Chad Smith.

Here are what the numbers look like now -

District 1 Smith - 796 (29%), Baker 1957 (71%)
District 2 Smith - 788 (31%), Baker 1769 (69%)
District 3 Smith - 1016 (54%), Baker 865 (46%)
District 4 Smith - 675 (42%), Baker 925 (58%)
District 5 Smith - 703 (55%), Baker 583 (45%)
Walk in Vote Smith - 68 (35%), Baker 124 (65%)
Totals Smith - 4046, Baker 6223

Compare these numbers to the first go round that was thrown out -

District 1 Smith - 1128 (33%), Baker 2303 (67%)
District 2 Smith - 1116 (37%), Baker 1912 (63%)
District 3 Smith - 1240 (64%), Baker 711 (36%)
District 4 Smith - 943 (52%), Baker 885 (48%)
District 5 Smith - 1126 (65%), Baker 616 (35%)

Percentages show Smith has lost ground with the walk in voters who tend to be those who live inside the service area of the Cherokee Nation. In District 1, his percentage dropped by 4. In District 2, it dropped by 6 and in Districts 3, 4 and 5, it dropped by 10.

Now to wait for the tally of the At Large/absentee ballots. Was Bill John Baker able to swing more voters his way with that group, or will Chad carry it by a large number again? Your guess is as good as mine. I guess we will know in a day or two. I will keep you posted as I get more information. Sit tight everyone. It is finally almost over.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

The Granddaughter

More reading HERE

September 24th Cherokee Nation Election Results Thus Far

Unofficial Precinct and Walk-In Results (By District/By Precinct)

 
      No Absentee Ballots or Challenged Ballots Have Been Counted
               
                Unofficial Results from Precinct Voting and Walk-in Voting

               Unofficial Results for District 1 - By Precinct 
                Unofficial Results for District 2 - By Precinct
                Unofficial Results for District 3 - By Precinct
                Unofficial Results for District 4 - By Precinct
                Unofficial Results for District 5 - By Precinct
                Unofficial Results for At-Large Walk-in

Cherokee Nation Election September 24-October 8 - In Person Voting Numbers

From the Tahlequah Daily Press facebook page,

"CHEROKEE UPDATE: Slight correction in the tally from a few moments ago. Smith's total remains the same, 4,046; Baker's is 6,223. (The numbers we reported a bit ago were corrected by EC officials shortly after the original count was reported.) Also, this count is from ALL in-person voting, both at precincts and at the Election Commission office. There were 12,000 requests for absentee ballots. (In June, 75 percent of the approximate 8,000 absentee ballots were returned, so obviously, this tally will take some time.) Percentiles for now: Baker, 60.6 percent; Smith, 39.4 percent. We do not expect another update today. ~"

As mentioned above, there are quite a large number of absentee ballots yet to be counted, so please refrain from believing this is the final count. It is not. Lots more votes to be counted in the next day or two.

Break down of In Person voting by precinct voting (numbers provided by Dani Saloli-Mackey on the Bill John Baker for Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation facebook page)

Precinct & Walk-In Votes Sept/Oct 2011

Warner
Chad Smith - 122
Bill John Baker - 91

Vinita
Chad Smith - 95
Bill John Baker - 175

Westville
Chad Smith - 99
Bill John Baker - 208

Briggs
Chad Smith -36
Bill John Baker - 121

Bartlesville
Chad Smith - 128
Bill John Baker - 123

Welch
Chad Smith - 0
Bill John Baker - 1

Marble City
Chad Smith - 41
Bill John Baker - 56

Chelsea
Chad Smith - 70
Bill John Baker - 54

Stilwell
Chad Smith - 239
Bill John Baker - 628

Keys
Chad Smith - 56
Bill John Baker - 159 (could be 155)

Grove
Chad Smith - 71
Bill John Baker - 83

Collinsville
Chad Smith - 118
Bill John Baker - 64

Oolagah
Chad Smith - 23
Bill John Baker - 10

Tulsa
Chad Smith - 98
Bill John Baker - 102

Belfonte
Chad Smith - 16
Bill John Baker - 8

Pryor
Chad Smith - 146
Bill John Baker - 147

Vian
Chad Smith - 132
Bill John Baker - 123

Claremore
Chad Smith - 367
Bill John Baker - 327

Hulbert
Chad Smith - 51
Bill John Baker - 233

Cave Springs
Chad Smith - 34
Bill John Baker - 61

Sallisaw
Chad Smith - 215
Bill John Baker - 167

Nowata
Chad Smith - 67
Bill John Baker - 60

Okay
Chad Smith - 36
Bill John Baker - 32

Muldrow
Chad Smith - 183
Bill John Baker - 181

Chewey
Chad Smith - 1
Bill John Baker - 19

Spavinaw
Chad Smith - 3
Bill John Baker - 3

Muskogee
Chad Smith - 21
Bill John Baker - 7

Kansas
Chad Smith - 85
Bill John Baker - 259

Jay
Chad Smith - 116
Bill John Baker - 261

Kenwood
Chad Smith - 21
Bill John Baker - 61

Locust Grove
Chad Smith - 93
Bill John Baker - 232

Salina
Chad Smith - 79
Bill John Baker - 127

Lowery
Chad Smith - 16
Bill John Baker - 98

Bell
Chad Smith - 20
Bill John Baker - 29

Tahlequah
Chad Smith - 292
Bill John Baker - 650

Afton
Chad Smith - 30
Bill John Baker - 13

Cherokee Election - Ballot Counting to Begin Today

Ballot counting is to begin at 8am this morning, after waiting more than 2 weeks since the main election day for the special election for Principal Chief. The counting will not occur in one day and the final results still will not be known for several more days. More information on the count can be found HERE.

I will post updates from the election as they become available.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Cherokees Can Continue to Vote Until October 8th Too

The order just came down that Cherokees by blood as well as Freedmen Descendants, can vote until Oct. 8th.

Walk-in at the Election Commission Office in Tahlequah only, Thursday, Sept 29th; Saturday, October 1; Tuesday, October 4th; Thursday, October 6th; and Saturday, October 8th.

You must have been registered to vote in tribal elections before the March 31 deadline in order to vote in this election.

per Sherry Jean Robertson-Baker on facebook

Monday, September 26, 2011

September 24 Cherokee Nation Election Results Coming Soon

Results from the September 24th Cherokee Nation election will not be available and certified until approximately October 10th. The freedmen descendants have two additional walk in days to cast votes and absentee ballots from them must be received by October 8th. The election commission has two days to certify the results of the election, so that means we probably won't know the official results until the 10th of October.

I will post any information that becomes available before then and keep everyone up to date on what is going on concerning our election.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

The Granddaughter

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Latest on the Freedmen Descendants and the Election

Please click the links for the latest information -

Statement from Acting Principal Chief Joe Crittenden

Statement from Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Election Commission

Statement made by the Cherokee Freedmen Descendants at the CNO EC Special Meeting

"Freedmen, Be Prepared to Vote" says Marilyn Vann

"Freedmen, be prepared to vote," was the message posted by Marilyn Vann, on the facebook group wall, Cherokee Freedmen Descendants. According to Ms. Vann, the election commission is having an emergency meeting tonight with the agenda item being procedures allowing the freedmen descendants to vote.

This information followed closely behind the release today of the following court filed document.