At 2:10 this afternoon, the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court issued an order that all ballots for the office of Principal Chief shall be recounted by hand starting at 8:30 a.m. this coming Saturday. What's more interesting is that the Justices themselves will be in the room for the recount with the election commission, the candidates and their legal counsel, which is the same manner in which the Court had the absentee ballot envelopes recounted this past Sunday evening.
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| Photo Credit Tulsa World |
So what does this mean? Well, it definitely shows the Court believes the recount that declared Bill John Baker the winner was incomplete, lacking hundreds of votes on the final tally. The testimony of the Election Commission, and ultimately the count of the absentee envelopes proved that.
Today, Bill John Baker, who probably can no longer call himself "Chief-Elect," did a 180-degree turn from the statements he normally puts out when on the defensive, and said the following to reporters:
“We’ve always wanted every vote to count. I paid $4,500 for a full hand recount, and if they didn’t count them all, then I didn’t get what I paid for. I’m glad I’m going to get what I paid for, and I feel confident that we’ll be victorious.”
However, he did make a jab saying, "I am thrilled that the court chose to reject Chad Smith’s demand that the ballots only be counted by machines -- machines run by the same man who entered the ballot vault and changed numbers on a tally sheet."
It's interesting to us that Baker keeps sticking to the story that Terry Rainey, the contractor hired by the Election Commission, somehow rigged the election in Smith's favor, when that has never been proven even remotely true in court testimony or video tape surveillance.
It's interesting to us that Baker keeps sticking to the story that Terry Rainey, the contractor hired by the Election Commission, somehow rigged the election in Smith's favor, when that has never been proven even remotely true in court testimony or video tape surveillance.
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| Photo Credit Tulsa World |
Chief Smith was happy with the news, saying, "With this recount, every Cherokee has assurance that votes are going to be counted. I’m pleased that we’ve moved on to the logical next step in the process and look forward to the recount on Saturday. I was ahead when the original recount began, and I’m confident I’ll be ahead when all the votes are counted and tallied on Saturday."
The truth is, hopefully this new recount will actually count every single vote, and the people's choice will be clear. But indeed, neither candidate can expect a landslide.
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