Election Limbo Day 14: Still Going...

The Cherokee Nation Supreme Court just reconvened after a short dinner break with plans to continue until 10 pm tonight. If they do not wrap up this evening, court may be in session again tomorrow afternoon.

The truth tonight is that the truth is still unfolding. There have been only a few news reports out today. In fact, the Cherokee Phoenix has not reported anything on this hot Saturday!

The big news so far was that the Court is allowing the Election Commission to determine if non Cherokee citizens cast votes in the June 25th election.

Reportedly, the Court also denied Baker's motion to dismiss.

Stay tuned to the Truth and to news reports for more as this election continues to unfold.

Election Limbo Day 13: Romeo Blue Edition

Yogi Berra

 What do Yogi Berra, the former Romeo Blue (Lenny Kravitz), and our election have in common?  “It aint’ over ‘til it’s over.”

Romeo Blue aka Lenny Kravitz

We think everyone was hoping the court would decide something, anything today.   Mostly, what they did was listen.  There are plenty of media reports, but we’ll keep it close to home, with the folks over at the Cherokee Phoenix who are providing multiple updates every day.  The first one was simply reporting something that some of our readers have doubted:  the election commission, each and every one of them, say the recount has problems and they don’t think the totals are right. 

That had to make Smith folks happy, but Baker’s people tried to go down the road that maybe the recount was right and the first count was wrong.

Media reports say they start again tomorrow morning.  We don’t know what they’ll find out, but we hope they give us answers about why the vote counts were so different.

Election Limbo Day 12: Eye of the Storm

Something is going to happen tomorrow, and nobody knows what.  We’ve already had election day, an unofficial winner, an official winner, a recount winner, a recount scandal and a resignation by the election commission chairman.  That’s enough drama to win whatever award it is they give out for dramatic non-fiction stuff.   Today was pretty quiet, with Baker’s attorneys filed a couple of things:  a motion to intervene, which makes sense, because otherwise it’s just Smith’s attorneys suing the election commission, and a motion to dismiss Smith’s whole lawsuit, basically by saying it wasn’t specific enough.

Tomorrow, we move out of the eye of the storm, and the Supreme Court may tell us a lot more about what comes next.   

Election Limbo Day 11: UKB Truth

  

We’ll try to shine some light on a dispute between the Smith and Baker camps over whether non-citizens voted in the election.

The Tulsa World quotes Chuck Hoskin Jr. as saying that Smith was being hypocritical:

"And in maybe the biggest act of hypocrisy, Smith is now against voters who are dual enrolled with the UKB (these are the folks he calls non-registered voters), even though until a few years ago he himself was dual enrolled. Has Smith no shame?"

But today, Smith’s team posted a response from Deputy Chief Joe Grayson, saying that the court document did not refer to dual-enrolled Cherokees, but only those who aren’t Cherokee citizens:

“It's not clear whether Mr. Hoskin is willfully misinforming the public or just doesn't understand the court documents. Or maybe he just doesn't understand the citizenship laws of the Cherokee Nation. But the record is clear: people who are not citizens of the Cherokee Nation should not vote in our elections.”

   

So what’s the TRUTH?

Well, you can look it up for yourself  on the Supreme Court’s web site and scroll down to page 9 for the relevant info.

The filing uses the words non-citizen and relinquishment over and over again.  It seems like it’s pretty clear they are NOT talking about people who have dual citizenship, but it’s possible Hoskin had not had time to look through it before he made his statements.  It’s also possible the reporter didn’t think to check.  Regardless, if people aren't citizens, they shouldn't vote, right?

Anyway, we’re guessing this might be the calm before Friday’s storm.  A few news stories today, a little something at the court house and not much else. 

Smith appears to be having the same problems with the Election Commission that Baker had last week: he can’t get the information that he needs to try to make his case.  His attorneys filed something today to try to make the commission turn that information over.

The Associated Press put out a story previewing the court proceedings.

That story had a little something new from a law professor saying that the election is  "not something the federal courts are going to deal with, but at some point, the Bureau of Indian Affairs will have to deal with the Cherokee government, and it raises questions for the federal government as to who the new chief is."

Meanwhile,  the Tulsa World took a dive into the exhibits of Smith’s appeal, pointing out more irregularities in the recount. 

So far, even Baker’s folks haven’t gone so far as to say in court documents that the recount was handled well, but they do make strong arguments that the recount is final and that’s that, even if it’s wrong.

We’ll see if there is more tomorrow.  If not, Friday will be quite a day and may settle this thing once and for all.

Election Limbo Day 10: New Election?

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.

Election Limbo Day 9- Happy 4th of July

Hopefully, our readers are taking the day to enjoy family, friends and fireworks. Our prayer for you is that you still maintain all the fingers you started with today after playing with fireworks tonight! Happy 4th of July.

The truth is, tomorrow may bring some fireworks of another sort. The race for Principal Chief continues-- but this time in court. We will keep you updated on what happens if and when the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court hears testimony about the disputed vote tallies of the Election Commission. 

Until then, be careful when lighting those sparklers, black cats and Roman candles.

Election Limbo Day 8: The "Resounding Loser"

The Muskogee Phoenix deserves a shout-out for their latest story on the election, especially the first line:

“Two winners were declared this week in the contest to elect the Cherokee Nation’s principal chief. But the resounding loser appears to be the tribe’s election commission.”

Both sides have had problems with the commission, and no one seems to know for sure what the real vote was at this point.  When Smith was ahead, he thought it was fair to have a recount and Baker thought the commission was ‘stealing’ the election from him.  But when Baker went ahead on the recount, which the commission admits was screwed up, he suddenly thought they were a-ok and  reliable. 

So who are these people and how did they get there?  As some of our readers point out, the Cherokee Nation web site has some good information on the commission. 

They are not, as Mr. Hoskin has said in statements, Smith’s ‘hand picked’ election commission:  Hoskin and Baker voted in favor of the two commissioners selected by the council. The commissioners are:  Roger Johnson and Martha Calico, both of whom were selected unanimously, (including votes from Baker and his spokesperson/fellow council member Chuck Hoskin, Jr.).  Resolutions 07-08 and 08-08 on legistar show those votes.  Chief Smith also selected two people, Patsy Eads-Morton and Curtis Rohr.  Together, those four selected Brenda Walker.  Johnson, one of the council’s selections, is the Chairman of the commission.  So even though both sides seem to have no confidence in the commission, it’s true that both sides had an equal say in assembling the people who have created the mess.

One bit of truth that has gone unnoticed so far:  either candidate could have avoided any of this mess by getting, say, 500 more votes than the other thus making the margin large enough that the rest of these things would seem irrelevant.  However, with such a close election and such a mess made by the election commission, neither candidate has a mandate or the right to invoke the strong will of the Cherokee people. 

Election Limbo Day 7- Why Cherokee Truth is Here

Way back in May, we laid out our ground rules.

Back then, only about 100 of you liked us on facebook, and we’ve had more than 550 of you join us since then--- welcome! Today’s blog is a reminder/orientation about what kind of blog/facebook page you are reading.  

It’s called Cherokee Truth-- not Cherokee Rumor, Cherokee Gloat, Cherokee Innuenedo, or Cherokee Borderline Slander.  It’s okay to express opinion here, but do so respectfully.  If you have a theory (like say, the missing votes in the recount were really just 3-D holograms that fooled the balloting machines), don’t post it unless you can back it up with a credible source.  If you can’t back up your version of the truth with some verifiable facts, take a deep breath, then go find some facts and come back and share. 

Over the next few days, we’ll get back to our roots of pointing out what is and isn’t true about what either camp or candidate is saying. This blog/facebook page is not for everyone --- it’s only for people who like to have factual discussions about Cherokee politics in a respectful way.  If you want to do that, please stick around.  If you don’t, feel free to retreat to whatever dark corner of the internet you usually hang out in.  Like we’ve said before, there are plenty of places on the web to post your unfounded conspiracy theories and personal attacks; this is not that place.

Personal attacks on candidates or others, outlandish/untruthful claims and obscenity are not tolerated and will be deleted. You can call that censorship if you want. We call it “our page, our rules.” If the hatefulness continues we will change the settings so that no one may post on the wall. We really don’t want to go there, so police yourselves.

And, if you’re new to the blog and want a good dose of truth, paddle backwards and check out our archives. Thanks for reading and for your interest in the Truth. 

Election Limbo Day 6: Smith Files for a recount

Apparently a big fuss at the Election Commission today resulted in a bunch of nothing new.  Smith ended up filing a court case, saying he wants a machine recount.  He also posted some statements from his attorney on his web site.  The common theme was still the drastically lower amount of total votes (and Smith votes) in the recount than in the original certified count.

Baker apparently asked Smith to concede, according to the Tulsa World, while Smith called on Baker to stick with his earlier comments (made when Baker was behind) to make sure every vote was counted.

Election Limbo Day 5 & 6 (early hours)- Baker Wins? Part 2

Tonight, Bill John Baker was declared the winner of the Principal Chief's race in a recount that started around 3 pm this afternoon. According to the Cherokee Phoenix, the recount showed Baker with 7613 votes and Chad Smith with 7347 votes-- a staggering 266 vote difference. 

So, is it over? Not by a long shot, we bet. When asked for a reaction to tonight’s recount, Smith said, “Tonight’s recount totals are perplexing and result in more questions than answers. The No. 1 questions is how I lost 262 votes while my opponent gained 11, and the total vote count in the election dropped by more than 250. We have not gotten an explanation from the Election Commission about the 250 vanishing votes.”

Meanwhile, Baker celebrated his victory, addressing supporters saying, “I truly want to thank everybody that’s been praying and all of my supporters. No one had better supporters than what I had. Now, it’s about the business of reuniting the Nation and taking care of our people.”

We'll wait to see in the coming days if those 250+ vanishing votes are addressed.