The 2023

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...

tribal council elections took place concurrently with the 2023 Cherokee Nation principal chief election and

2023 Cherokee Nation deputy chief election The 2023 Cherokee Nation deputy chief election was held on June 3, 2023, concurrently with the 2023 Cherokee Nation tribal council elections and 2023 Cherokee Nation principal chief election, to elect the Deputy Chief of the Cherokee Nation. ...

on June 3, 2023, with runoff elections, where necessary, held on July 8, 2023. The

's Tribal Council is made up of seventeen Tribal Councilors elected from the fifteen districts within the reservation boundaries and two at-large seats. In 2023, tribal council elections were scheduled to be held for districts 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, 13, 14, and for one of the at-large seats.

Background

The 2023

elections were scheduled to take place on June 3, 2023, with runoff elections scheduled for July 8, 2023. The swearing in of elected officials took place on August 14, 2023. The election was the first election where the

Election Commission had an in-house

investigator Investigator may refer to: Occupations Government and law * Detective, a person who investigates crimes, can be a rank and job in a police department, state or federal employee, or a civilian called a private detective * Inspector, a police rank ...

to investigate election code violations. The election also utilized 70 new

voting machines A voting machine is a machine used to record votes in an election without paper. The first voting machines were mechanical but it is increasingly more common to use ''electronic voting machines''. Traditionally, a voting machine has been defin ...

to replace the older 2012 models used in prior elections. Eight out of the seventeen seats on the

Tribal Council were scheduled to have elections in 2023. In order to win a seat on the Tribal Council, a candidate must receive 50% plus one vote. If no candidate received 50% plus one vote, then a

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

was held between the two top vote earning candidates. As of May 2023, there were 78,419 registered voters – 44,592 within the

reservation __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...

and 33,827

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

Legal issues

A complaint by District 1 candidate Trae Ratliff alleged that

absentee ballots An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station to which the voter is normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postal voting, proxy voting and online vo ...

could be read through envelopes with the use of a

flashlight A flashlight ( US, Canada) or torch ( UK, Australia) is a portable hand-held electric lamp. Formerly, the light source typically was a miniature incandescent light bulb, but these have been displaced by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) since the ...

. While the

Election Commission made clear the envelopes were the same as past elections, they unanimously voted to order heavier envelopes for the runoff election and all future elections.

Retiring

Term limited

* Rex Jordan, District 1 * Shawn Crittenden, District 8 * Keith Austin, District 14

Retiring

Wes Nofire John Wesley "Wes" Nofire (born April 30, 1986) is a Cherokee-American politician and a former heavyweight professional boxer. During his boxing career Nofire fought under the name "The Cherokee Warrior". Nofire currently serves on the Cherokee Nat ...

, District 3 ''( ran for principal chief)''

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherokee Nation tribal council elections, 2023 2023 tribal elections in the United States Cherokee Nation tribal council June 2023 events in the United States July 2023 events in the United States

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

21st-century Cherokee history