From media reports it appears to be quite a day, with court filings by both Baker and Smith, news conferences by both Baker and Smith, and the surprise resignation of our election commission chairman, Roger Johnson.
That’s a busier than average Tuesday.
We’ll start with the court filings: Baker wants Smith’s request for a machine recount (filed last Friday) thrown out.
Baker doesn’t address the discrepancy of two-hundred-something votes between the two certifications, only saying that since the Election Commission certified the recount it should stand according to Cherokee Nation law. But he does use a lot of legalese to say why Smith’s Friday request should be thrown out.
Smith, on the other hand, raises some new topics with his filing today as well as trying to get the machine recount.
He wants the recount to continue, but he says if it doesn’t, the court should order a new election because of three things he claims: 1) UKB members who had relinquished their Cherokee Nation tribal citizenship voted in the election and shouldn’t have; 2) 273 Absentee voters were disenfranchised; 3) not all the ‘challenge’ ballots were counted, only some. His lawyers say that the true test is that the court has to decide if there is a mathematical certainty of one or the other of the candidates being the winner --- if not, Smith says there has to be a new election.
That’s right, something a lot of you have been calling for: a new election. It’s on the table now, for the justices to consider.
The Supreme Court is getting everyone together on Friday morning at 830 to sort this all out.
Baker’s statement on his facebook page says, in part “ I won this election. There is no doubt about it and I ask in the name of our Cherokee Nation and in the name of our Cherokee family that Chad do the right thing and allow us to begin moving this nation from good to great.”
Chad, on the other hand, says on his web site that "Just looking at the numbers, it’s clear that there are hundreds of unexplained, vanishing votes. Bill John Baker is willing to say anything and do anything to become Chief. If he has to throw out Cherokee votes to do it, he will."
Smith also references the resignation Tuesday of Roger Johnson from the Election Commission.
The Tulsa World has some information on it, and the resignation letter itself which Smith cited as confirming the irregularities.
We’ll have to wait until Friday for the CN Supreme Court to rule on these matters, so it might be a slow couple of days—or will it? Stay tuned to find out.
