D. Sean Rowley
Cherokee Phoenix
TAHLEQUAH – As the 2025 election looms for nine seats on the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council, the CN Election Commission is bracing for a rise in challenged ballots.
This is not due to any changes in the attitudes or tendencies of particular candidates or political blocs within the tribe, but because of the recently redrawn council districts. Some confusion is anticipated due to those changes when ballots are cast for the June 7 races.
“We still have the 15 districts. It’s just that their borders have changed,” said Connie Parnell, Cherokee Nation elections director. “Some got bigger, some got smaller. If a voter is challenged, the first thing that voter does is present themselves to the judge – the first precinct official they come to – and that official will determine if they are a regular voter or a voter that will receive a challenge ballot.”
A disputed district assignment or voter residence are ways a voter might be challenged on Election Day. Challenges might also occur because a voter is not in the precinct signature book or there is a possibility of a double vote – either because the voter received an absentee ballot or is turning in an absentee ballot when the precinct book suggests the citizen voted during the walk-in period.
When a voter is legitimately challenged for arriving at the wrong polling site, they will be directed to the proper precinct. In other cases, challenged voters will still receive a “challenge ballot.”
“It’s a ballot that is voted but not counted until it can be researched,” Parnell said. “That’s why election night results are unofficial until they are later certified. We check whether these challenges are valid votes.”
The majority of votes are cast by absentee ballot and turned in before Election Day, but whether voting in-person, early or absentee, voters should apply even more care this year to determine whether they are still in the same district, still assigned to the same polling precinct and to be sure that their council seat is even up for election this year. Pre-election research provides much better voter recourse than what can be offered at the last minute.
“What they need to do is be checking now,” Parnell said. “Make sure you got a voter ID card in the mail. We mailed them to everybody, and we got a lot of them back. Now, we looked through tribal citizenship to see about different addresses, but we also discovered that several were deceased. It’s a good idea for all Cherokee Nation citizens to check to know where they are now. Double-check if you didn’t get a card. That tells you if you’re in a new district. Always tell us when you move. Get on the CNEC website. Call us with your questions.”
Maps of the districts are available online at election.cherokee.org.
Parnell offered the reminder that only the names and addresses of registered CN voters are public information.
Further data cannot be shared with third parties. A person acting on behalf of a voter must be vouched for by the voter.
“We can only give information to the voter,” she said. “Somebody else cannot call for that voter unless they are assisting that voter, and the voter has to be there. We ask a few questions to make sure that we are talking to that voter.”
Call the CNEC at 918-458-5899 or email election-commission@cherokee.org. The Election Commission office is east of the W.W. Keeler Complex at 17763 S. Muskogee Ave. in Tahlequah.