Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Cherokee Election Commission Reverses Election Results; Declares Chad "Our Slaves Were Well Treated" Smith Winner

WHY, are we not surprised?

Officials with one of the nation's largest American Indian tribes reversed unofficial election results Monday and declared the longtime chief the winner of a bitter, close race.

The Cherokee Election Commission said Principal Chief Chad Smith had defeated longtime councilman Bill John Baker and won re-election to a fourth term by seven votes. Unofficial results released Sunday showed Baker unseating Smith by 11 votes.

The Cherokee Nation is Oklahoma's largest American Indian tribe and one of the nation's biggest, with a membership approaching 300,000 people. The Tahlequah-based tribe has a 14-county jurisdiction in eastern Oklahoma, although many of its members live elsewhere.

The campaign between Smith and Baker was contentious, with the two men combining to spend nearly a half-million dollars as they sought the chief's job. Turnout for Saturday's election was considerably higher than in 2007, when Smith won a third term as 13,903 voters cast a ballot.

Commission clerk Joyce Gourd said she wasn't there when commission members certified the election results and didn't know why the unofficial results were overturned. The final count was 7,609 votes for Smith and 7,602 votes for Baker, she said.  OP:  Apparently, some votes were found in a back pocket...

Unofficial results had shown Baker the winner with 7,600 votes, while Smith had 7,589.

Smith, who had announced plans to challenge the election results shortly before they were overturned, said he was pleased with the results and believes his re-election vindicates his leadership of the Cherokee Nation over the past 12 years.

"We're doing very well in creating jobs and health care," Smith said. "We're very happy. The staff is just jubilant."

Baker, a Cherokee Nation councilman for 12 years, said he expects to ask for a recount. Baker has until Wednesday to make the request.

"I am obviously shocked that after an arduous and complete vote count that had our campaign in the lead against an entrenched incumbent with all the powers of the government at his disposal today some numbers were found to be incorrect," Baker said in the statement issued late Monday.

"I ask that all Cherokees and specifically my thousands of supporters stay calm as we get to the bottom of this election," he said. "We are a proud people who believe in honesty and transparency. And most importantly the integrity of our Constitution and nation must never be in question as that could also risk our sovereignty."

Smith, who was first elected in 1999 when he unseated Joe Byrd, who took office after the retirement of longtime chief Wilma Mankiller, focused on his record during the heated campaign against Baker.
During the race, Baker also criticized Smith for using a tribal airplane for travel and called for the tribe to spend more of its gaming revenues on health care. Smith said he followed a budget approved by the tribal council in using the tribe's twin-engine plane and noted that the tribe went from spending $18 million a year on health care in 1999 to more than $300 million annually today.

In spite of the tense campaign rhetoric, Smith said he believes any animosity between the two men has been overstated.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

To hell with that kind of white man sovereignty, that's what it is called these days tag it - label it.

There is no Indianhood sovereignty on our reservations!

We have, the whiteman's sovereignty all over on every reservation, riddled with criminal harming crimes for their personal use against real tribal nation's people.

Sovereignty is the biggest joke!
Non-Indians & non-tribal members know this and relish in the thought that they have rights & rules to smother us...they do this day after day while we are trying to just survived or else we are marked for death.

Think about it!

Sovereignty does not work for the tribal nation of original Indians.

It is a set back or a hold back!
It just a manifestation for the whiteman to continue his diabolical onslaught(attacks or assaults)to dissolve us.

WE ARE STLL HERE!!!

We know for a fact that you all hate us, because we are naturally & genuinely handsome, gorgeous & beautiful humans!

Anonymous said...

Forgot modest :)

Sovereignty aka 'above the law' is a cruel joke to American Indians.

Sovereignty + "Indian Law" are used to violate Indians' Human rights.

America is an occupied land. If America turns a deaf, dumb, and blind eye towards crimes against Indians to which nations can American Indians turn to for justice? The world court?

smokeybear said...

QUESTION: WHERE DID THEY COME UP WITH THESE EXTRA VOTES? DID THEY MANUFACTURE THEM? OR ARE THEY SAYING SOME OF THE ALREADY COUNTED VOTES AREN'T LEGIT? THIS NEVER FAILS TO AMAZE ME HOW THE CORRUPT...."CORRUPT!" IF IT DOESN'T GO THEIR WAY, THEY MAKE IT GO THEIR WAY. ARE THEY TAKING THIS FROM THE "MACARRO CARTEL"S" PLAY BOOK? THAT IS SOMETHING MARK MACARRO AND HIS HENCHMEN WOULD DO, "MAKE IT UP AS YOU GO!" WHEN WILL THE TRUE INDIAN GET A "FAIR SHAKE" WHEN SOMEONE STEPS FORWARD AND TRYS TO CHANGE WHAT IS BROKEN IN INDIAN COUNTRY? THIS HAS GOT TO BE A SET UP ALREADY TO BE PUT IN PLAY IF THE ELECTION WENT AGAINST HIM. AND WHEN IT, DID HE PLAYED IT, AND WITH NO "OVERSIGHT" HE IS DOOMED. THERE IS NO HONESTY AND JUSTICE FOR THE "NATIVE AMERICAN" IN INDIAN COUNTRY.

Anonymous said...

Sovereignty is just another word they manufactured up for surrendering or ceding something of overwhelming value or importance.
Like an important honest(laugh-laugh) election.
Finding dumbie votes=dumbie election...dumbie results.

It is their sovereignty territory...their territorial sovereignty!

These elections are rigged & manufactured, fabricated ahead of time, to offset the examiners, who also happens to be the inventing riggers.
now I did not use the n-letter first.

Has anyone tried to use the sovereignty card on our own private reservations?

It is their sovereignty territory...their territorial
sovereignty...their throne of terror to terrorized the authentic native borned indian and the indians communities!

OOOOHH! It's a big no-no-taboo, it's reserved for the pretend indians to utilized when they are or one of their own are in some deep heap of shit, with the locals, the State & Federal levels!

Have you all noticed that the locals that are in your areas, districts, vicinities, towns or cities...the locals don't even recognized their local indians or the local indians they all once grew-up around...they have noticed this too.
They have noticed (the locals) that it is not the indians they grew-up with doing alot of cimes in and around the neighborhoods, they have noticed it is not the children of the friends * neighborhood indians committing big city crimes or urban crimes!
They find it disgusting/repulsive that, the fake tribal indians are camouflaging themselves as the real tribal people of our reservations.
It's appaulling to them!!!

smokeybear said...

BAKER WON, FINALLY SOME JUSTICE IN INDIAN COUNTRY.