35 questions the UKB Tribal Council should answer before candidate filing opens Aug. 3

Candidate filing for tribal office opens Aug. 3 under a new election law passed by the Tribal Council of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.

The law is the 2025 Election Ordinance. Members will run for office, vote and serve under it. The Election Board did not write it. The Board’s job is to run the election under the law the Council passed. Responsibility for what the law says rests with the Council that voted for it.

The ordinance does not name filing dates. Section 503 sets a formula: candidates file in person with the Election Board starting at 9 a.m. on the first business day of August and ending at 6 p.m. on the 10th business day of August. This year, Aug. 1 falls on a Saturday. Under the formula, filing opens Monday, Aug. 3, and closes at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14. The count assumes tribal offices stay open every weekday in that stretch. The Election Board’s official election notice will confirm the dates.

The questions below come from the text of the ordinance and from the Band’s governing documents. They are questions the Council should answer before filing opens.

THE NAME OF THE LAW

1. Section 101 calls this law the “United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma Election Ordinance of 2022.” The Council passed it in 2025. How did a law passed in 2025 name itself a 2022 law? Who reviewed the final version before the vote?

WHO COUNTS AS A MEMBER

2. The UKB Constitution begins, “We, the members of the United Keetoowah Band.” The ordinance uses a different term. Section 104 defines an “Exclusive Member” as a Tribal Member who can prove one-quarter degree or more of Cherokee Indian blood and who is not enrolled in any other tribe. Why did the Council replace the Constitution’s term with a new one?

3. The same section then defines “Member” to mean only Exclusive Members. What constitutional authority allows an ordinance to narrow rights the Constitution gives to Members?

4. If that authority comes from the Enrollment Ordinance, why does the Election Ordinance not explain that connection?

THE RIGHT TO VOTE

5. Section 401 requires a voter to have been an Exclusive Member for at least six months before an election and to prove one-quarter degree or more of Cherokee blood, in addition to being 21 years of age. Does requiring proof of blood quantum to vote add a qualification beyond what the Constitution’s voting clause states?

6. Section 401(B)(1) bars anyone punished by banishment from voting, with no stated end date to that disqualification. Is the bar meant to be permanent, and on what authority?

7. Section 404(B)(5) directs the Tribal Secretary to prepare the final Voter List and certified Precinct Books “no later than June 31” of an election year. June has 30 days. What date does the Council intend the Secretary to meet, and has the error been corrected in the version currently in force?

8. Section 408 treats all voter information as confidential, then allows the Election Board to release Precinct Book copies to candidates who pay the fee set in Section 503(G). What prevents a candidate who receives that information from using it beyond the purposes the ordinance allows?

CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS BEYOND THE CONSTITUTION

9. Article XI of the Constitution sets candidate qualifications for Chief and Assistant Chief at not less than 35 years of age, a resident of the Old Cherokee Nation and a member of the Band. Section 501 of the ordinance adds four more requirements: five years as an Exclusive Member, no prior service as an elected official of another federally recognized tribe, a valid driver’s license, and a high school diploma or equivalent. What is the source of the Council’s authority to add candidate qualifications the Constitution does not list?

10. Section 501 requires every candidate, for every office, to hold a valid driver’s license. What does the driver’s license requirement establish about a candidate’s fitness for office that the Constitution’s qualifications do not already cover?

11. Section 501 requires a high school diploma or equivalent for every office, including District Representative. Does the Council have data on how many currently eligible voters lack a high school diploma or equivalent, and will it be published?

12. Section 501 permanently bars anyone who has served as an elected official of another federally recognized tribe, with no stated time limit. Is that bar meant to be lifelong, and if so, on what basis?

13. No governing document produced to date — not the Constitution, not the Election Ordinance — states when the five-year Exclusive Member clock begins for a candidate. Does it start at UKB enrollment, at relinquishment of enrollment in another tribe, or at some other event?

CAMPAIGNING AND THE UNNAMED NEWSPAPER

14. Section 103 states a purpose of the ordinance is to prevent campaigning on tribal property, excluding private residences and “the tribal newspaper.” Section 104(F) repeats the exemption in the same language. Neither section names the publication. Which publication does the ordinance mean, and why is it not named?

15. If the unnamed “tribal newspaper” is a specific, existing publication, does exempting it from the electioneering ban give it standing relative to other Member-run or independent coverage of the same election?

THE ELECTION BOARD’S OWN STATUS

16. Section 201 calls the Election Board “an independent and autonomous agency” of the Band. Article V, Section 1 of the Constitution states the Council is “the supreme governing body of the Band.” The Board is Council-funded and activated by Council resolution each election year. How does the Council reconcile those facts with the word “autonomous”?

17. Section 204 sets Election Board members to four-year terms, staggered so two of the five seats carry an initial two-year term. The ordinance does not say how those two seats were chosen. On what basis were they selected?

18. Section 203(B)(3) bars immediate family members from serving on the Election Board together. Were current Board members screened for that restriction before their appointments were finalized, or after they were sworn in?

PENALTIES, FEES AND ELECTION CONTESTS

19. Corporate Charter Section 3(q) caps penalties the Band may impose on Members at $100 for any one offense, or, in the alternative, expulsion from the Band or suspension of voting rights. Section 503(G)(5) of the ordinance imposes forfeiture of a $300 deposit plus an additional $300 fine for Precinct Book misuse, and Section 813(E)(1) separately imposes a civil fine of $300 per copy retained without Board approval. What is the source of authority for penalties three times the Charter’s stated cap?

20. Section 408(G) authorizes “punitive damages and attorney’s fees” against anyone who misuses voter information, with no dollar limit stated. Does the Council consider that provision subject to the Charter’s $100 cap?

21. Filing a petition to contest an election costs $1,000 for a Chief’s race, $800 for Assistant Chief, Secretary or Treasurer, and $500 for District Representative, under Section 902. What was the basis for setting the fee at that level?

22. Section 508 sets a separate fee to challenge a candidate’s eligibility, up to $500 for a Chief’s race, refundable only if the challenge succeeds. Does the non-refundable design of that fee discourage Members from raising eligibility questions?

23. Section 901 requires a contester to prove “with a mathematical certainty” that a violation affected the election’s outcome, with the full burden of proof on the contester. Has the Election Board or Council defined what evidence would satisfy that standard?

24. Members have separately raised concerns that the 2025 ordinance removed a prior accounting-experience requirement for candidates seeking the office of Treasurer. The 2022 ordinance’s exact language on this point has not been produced for review. Did the Council remove such a requirement, and if so, was the change explained to Members before the vote?

25. Section 905(A) allows any party to view ballots and election records at the Court Clerk’s office at no charge. Section 905(B) charges an additional fee, matching the original contest filing fee, for certified copies of the same materials. Does requiring a second full fee for certified copies limit a contester’s ability to build a case for appeal?

26. Why did the Council repeal the previous election law instead of amending only the sections that needed it?

27. Was the ordinance released to Members for review before it was adopted?

28. Did the Council explain the changes to Members before the vote?

29. Did the Election Board recommend any changes before passage? If so, which were accepted and which were rejected?

30. The final law contains drafting errors, inconsistent terms, duplicate subsection letters and internal contradictions. How did those errors remain in the version the Council approved?

TIMING

31. If the Council believes parts of the ordinance need correction after this election, when did it first learn corrections were needed?

32. If corrections are needed, why are Members being asked to file for office under rules that may change after the election?

33. Does the Council believe election rules should be settled before candidate filing opens?

34. The Constitution begins with the Members. The Charter’s first stated purpose is to define and safeguard their rights. How does the Council believe this ordinance meets those obligations?

Candidate filing opens at 9 a.m. Monday, Aug. 3. Once it does, Section 102 locks the ordinance in place until the election results are certified.

Sources: United Keetoowah Band Election Ordinance of 2025 Constitution and Bylaws of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (1950) Corporate Charter of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (1950) UKB Courts Act of 2022 UKB Appellate Procedure Act of 2022 UKB Justice Department Act of 2022