Copyright © 2006 NLThomas
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TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA - Cherokee Nation citizens will have a stronger voice when it comes to the tribe's voting process thanks to the election law revised in 2005.

The Tribal Council unanimously amended the election law in November, and council attorney Todd Hembree said it should give the tribe's voters more say in the process.

"The people's voice will become stronger under this act," he said.

Although the act has many changes, Hembree cited three examples that should have the greatest impact - council candidates designating a district seat when filing, campaign finance reform and election appeals.

Under the revised law, all council candidates must run for an individual seat. Previously, candidates in districts with more than one council seat needed to be one of the top two vote getters to win a seat. With the revision, candidates for each seat must win by a majority of the votes.

"By having to pick a seat and having a run-off system, you take the top two and everybody votes on the top two. Now you know the winner of that is going to have a broader appeal to a larger segment of the population," Hembree said.

Under campaign finance reform, candidates must now show the public who is contributing to their campaigns, which helps citizens learn who is backing a certain candidate.

Candidates must submit a monthly contribution report that includes contributors' names, occupations and mailing addresses to the tribe's Election Commission.

"That will ensure that the public will know who is donating to the various candidates running for elected offices," he said. "It sheds light on an aspect of campaigning in Cherokee races that had significant loopholes in it."

If the report is late, the candidate will be fined $100 by the EC. If a candidate fails to file a report, files an incomplete report, fails to meet the deadline for any two months or fails to pay a fine before the election date, the candidate shall be disqualified.

The law also states that if a candidate is convicted of a criminal violation of the tribe's Financial Disclosure Report laws, then the candidate shall not hold the office and shall be barred for a period of five years from holding any elected tribal office.

"The old law had so many loopholes in it that it looked like Swiss cheese, and plus, there was little or no enforcement provisions by the Cherokee Election Commission. Also, there were little or no penalties if you failed to abide. We've taken that and we've put some penalty provisions in there and shored up the loopholes. We believe there will be better financial accounting out of this act."

A revised appeals process also gives Cherokee voters more of a voice, Hembree said.

"The appeal process for people alleging irregularities in elections has also been streamlined, and in my opinion, will benefit the public if they have a concern about irregularities in an election."

Hembree said timeframes have been shortened to allow better court response for irregularities allegations and fees to challenge results have been lowered to include a broader segment of the population.

According to the law, an appeal challenging an election must be filed with the Judicial Appeals Tribunal no later than the second Monday following the election. The JAT would then set the matter for a hearing date no later than three days from the date of filing the petition.

When a citizen alleges fraudulent precinct voting, the petitioner must pay $500, and $1,000 must accompany any fraudulent absentee voting allegations. The former fees were $5,000.

In election appeals concerning an office, only the defeated candidate shall be permitted to file an appeal for a $500 fee. The former filing fee was $1,000.

For appeals on issue or questions, recounts shall be authorized only when a registered voter who participated in the election presents a petition signed by a number of registered voters who participated in the election equal to 1 percent or more of the total votes cast for and against the issue. All appeals shall be accompanied with $500, which is significantly less than the previous fee of $5,000.

The new election law also makes it easier for Cherokee voters to stay eligible to vote. Under the old law, registered voters who didn't vote in two consecutive elections went onto an inactive voters list and had to re-register to vote. With the new law, once a citizen registers to vote, the citizen stays eligible to vote even if the citizen misses two straight Cherokee elections.

Hembree said the election law revision process began in 2000 and has been a long time coming with many tribal employees and citizens working on it.

"It was a very good team effort that included members of the administrative staff, members of the council staff, the chief (Principal Chief Chad Smith) and various councilors. Also there were significant surveys done as well as district meetings with constituents. There was not an aspect of the Cherokee Nation that was not purposely sought out for advice in coming up with this election reform."

Despite the long process, he said the laws needed revising because the tribe had simply outgrown its previous laws.

"We have become more sophisticated in the election process and we have become a larger and larger tribe. The elections are getting more and more sophisticated, and we needed to modify our law to meet the situation of the political reality of our elections today."