After a brief discussion, Justice Daniel Webber announced the need to deliberate due to dissention among the three justices, with a decision to be handed down within 10 days.

CONCHO, Okla. – Recount results from a Cheyenne and Arapaho faction’s Nov. 5 vote are still standing – at least for now.  The tribes’ Supreme Court is considering two appeals that could toss the results from last month’s primary election.

The Supreme Court affiliated with Janice Prairie Chief-Boswell’s administration heard arguments Friday in two separate challenges contesting the execution of the tribes’ Oct. 8 primary election. On Wednesday, the election commission certified recount results naming Rollin “Eddie” Hamilton and Cornell Sankey as winners of the governor and lieutenant governor race, but acknowledged prior to the count that the decisions stemming from Friday’s hearings could force them to set those results aside.

The first challenge came from former governor Darrell Flyingman and his running mate, Adrianna Harris. After receiving a unanimous vote in July from the Prairie Chief-Boswell administration’s election commission to stay on the ballot, their names were removed due to a previously unmentioned debt to the tribes’ housing authority. Under Cheyenne and Arapaho law, candidates must resolve any debt to the tribes before filing for office.

After a brief discussion, Justice Daniel Webber announced the need to deliberate due to dissention among the three justices, with a decision to be handed down within 10 days.

With the tribes facing an almost three-year old leadership schism, Flyingman and Harris were the only executive branch candidates to file with both claimant election commissions. They were also the only executive branch candidates to file with the commission affiliated with Leslie Wandrie-Harjo’s administration and were certified the unopposed winners in that commission’s election more than a month ago.

During Friday’s hearing, Flyingman testified that if reinstated to the Prairie Chief-Boswell commission’s ballot, he would honor the results, but would not set aside the other faction’s election certification due in part to an action pending with the Interior Board of Indian Appeals concerning the tribes’ ongoing constitutional crisis. No timeline has been given on when an IBIA decision will be handed down.

“I would not claim to be the governor until the IBIA court comes through with its decision,” Flyingman said. “I would have to wait until its ruling.”

Tribal citizen Joyce Wood of El Reno is also asking the court to overturn all results from the primary election. Among the allegations in Wood’s challenge:

- Absentee ballots being mailed out as late as four days before the primary election. Under the tribes’ election code, absentee ballots must be sent out no later than 21 days in advance.

- Use of provisional ballots, which are not referred to in the tribes’ election code.

- Using the tribes’ enrollment list rather than the voter registration list to confirm whether someone could cast a ballot.

- By using clear plastic tubs for ballot boxes, voters could not cast ballots in secret.

- The election commission attempted to place constitutional amendments on the ballot that had not been approved by at least two-thirds of that faction’s legislature.

- Conducting a primary and a general election simultaneously despite no language in the tribes’ constitution or election code to allow it.

A tribal employee, Wood is Prairie Chief-Boswell’s executive assistant. Prairie Chief-Boswell and her running mate, Connie Yellowman, finished third in last month’s primary.

Court was adjourned Friday evening before closing arguments were presented in Wood’s case. The justices did not provide a timeline for when they would resume the matter, simply advising participants to “watch their mailboxes for a letter.”

None of the seven election commissioners were called to testify during Friday afternoon’s hearings and none attended the proceedings.

Citing security concerns from an announced protest, the tribes’ complex was closed Friday, with security personnel blocking access to the parking lots. Along with the tribe’s adjoining Lucky Star Casino, the facility was placed on high alert Wednesday afternoon due to alleged threats from another faction to enter the tribal offices “militant style.”

About 30 Cheyenne and Arapaho citizens, including many elders, participated in the peaceful protest. The group held signs outside the courthouse, chanted and aired their grievances about the election procedure using a megaphone.

 “Darrell Flyingman should have been allowed to run for office. This election has been fraught with errors from the beginning to the end,” Vera Franklin said.

Franklin was also among the more than 20 tribal citizens who attended a special meeting of the Prairie Chief-Boswell administration’s election commission Tuesday evening to hear election challenges and recount requests from both executive branch tickets. Originally scheduled for 2 p.m., the meeting started four hours late due to lack of quorum.

Approving the recount requests late on Nov. 12 and conducting the count into the early morning hours, the election commission certified recount figures in the race for governor and lieutenant governor on Nov. 13, giving Rollin “Eddie” Hamilton and Cornell Sankey the win by one vote.

Initial unofficial results had Roberta Hamilton and Jerry Levi winning the office by 10 votes, but the certification announcement issued on Nov. 6 had the race ending in a tie after 84 provisional ballots and one absentee ballot were disallowed due to one ballot being questioned by an election commissioner.

With incomplete files prompting the commission to seek out more than 3,000 citizens to re-register to vote during July and August, the ballots were introduced in an effort to not disenfranchise previously registered voters who might have missed the announcement. Provisional ballots could only be cast in the executive branch race and their use is not explicitly approved in the tribes’ election code or constitution.

Although provisional ballots were distributed for use in the primary election, Election Commissioner Anthony Spottedwolf said that not all of them were counted due to the margin between the second and third place finishers. However, both Spottedwolf and the election commission’s attorney, Michelle Cecilia, confirmed during the meeting that all of the provisional ballots cast in the general election would be reviewed during the recount and those verified as being cast by eligible voters would be included.

Despite honoring the recount requests, the commission did not take any action on the election challenges filed by both executive branch campaigns over questions of ballot security, including allegations from the Hamilton/Levi campaign that on Nov. 6, at least one ballot box was left unattended in the main lobby of the tribal complex outside the conference room where votes were counted the night before.

After the initial count on Nov. 5, the ballots were stored in plastic tubs closed with zip ties. Members of the election commission denied leaving the storage containers out in the open and maintained that the boxes were locked up in the commission’s office after the ballot counting ended.

“What’s the point of having an office if you can’t put stuff in there?” interim chairman William Sankey asked.

Roberta Hamilton’s campaign confirmed Friday night it has filed a challenge to the recount with the election commission and has been advised of a Tuesday hearing on the matter. Her campaign still has an appeal pending with the tribes’ Supreme Court that was not heard during Friday’s session.

 

Unofficial results released Nov. 5

Governor/Lieutenant Governor

Roberta Hamilton/Jerry Levi: 746

Rollin “Eddie” Hamilton/Cornell Sankey: 736

 

Certified results published Nov. 6

Governor/Lieutenant Governor

Roberta Hamilton/Jerry Levi: 699

Rollin “Eddie” Hamilton/Cornell Sankey: 699

 

Certified recount results released Nov. 13

Rollin “Eddie” Hamilton/Cornell Sankey: 723

Roberta Hamilton/Jerry Levi: 722