From Our At Large Tribal Council Representative,

 JULIA COATES

Monday, October 10, 2011, 1:29 AM

The Scapegoating Continues...

Hello, everyone --

Jack Baker and I just spent the weekend in Texas visiting with our At Large community organizations in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas-Ft. Worth. This afternoon in DFW, I was asked by a constituent to speculate as to how a BJBaker administration would respond to At Large initiatives -- the Cherokee Nation History Course, which is much beloved and appreciated by At Large participants, the visits from cultural specialists sponsored through COTTA, At Large participation in the COTTA conference, etc. I refused to speculate, saying only that I didn't think we had any factual indication from Mr. BJ Baker as to what he might feel about these projects.

But tonight I received something that I believe gives At Large citizens a pretty clear indication of how Mr. BJ Baker feels about us. I will paste the pertinent portion of Baker's message into this e-mail:

"With all of the votes tallied of people voting in person we are ahead by more than 2,000 votes. I'm proud and humbled that voters who know both candidates best and who live in the heart of our Nation have voted for me by more than 60 percent. That's telling as last election our campaign won with Oklahoma voters by 53% to 47% over the former chief, Chad Smith."

Well, there you have it. I think that this, as well as Mr. BJ Baker's request two weeks ago to the Election Commission that only voters in Oklahoma should be allowed to continue voting through October 8, is a very clear indication of exactly how he feels about the At Large voters. As the sender of this e-mail stated (quoting George Orwell), "All pigs are equal, but some are more equal than others." But it is also a very clear indication of exactly how little BJ Baker knows about At Large voters.

"Voters who know both candidates best..." Really? At Large voters know Chief Smith very well because we have met him repeatedly for the better part of the last twenty years, even before he was Chief, at many of our events and offering history courses to us. If we don't know Mr. BJ Baker as well, it is because he hasn't made much contact with us over the years. This statement also exploits very stereotypical assumptions that At Large voters don't have family members residing "in the heart of our nation," weren't raised there themselves, don't visit very often, and don't intend to come back someday, soon even. And it cannot accurately be said that BJ Baker "won with Oklahoma voters" last time, since about 70% of the At Large vote comes from those who are still within Oklahoma, very close to the boundaries and still in very close connection to the Nation and its communities. And 2/3 of the At Large vote, including the 70% from within Oklahoma, went to Chief Smith. There are more ways one might analyze the vote than the one projected in this statement.

But the saddest thing about this pronouncement is the same old "us vs. them" attitude that has divided the Cherokee people for decades. While all of the efforts in the past years of advancing At Large initiatives have been to close the gaps, dispel the stereotypes, refute the scapegoating, and build the bridges between those At Large and those at home, this kind of statement only feeds the divisions and the fears of those at home that somehow the At Large people are their competitors and their adversaries. And nothing could be further from the truth. At Large Cherokees want to build connection with those at home in order to contribute to the well-being of Cherokee communities and the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation.

There are stereotypes about those at home as well, which aren't worth repeating, the point being that both kinds of stereotypes -- about those At Large or those at home -- are equally simplistic and can be easily challenged and disproven. We cannot categorize and divide our people this way, and to do so, as has been done in the statement issued tonight by the Baker campaign, does a great disservice to our Nation and the ability to heal after this horrific, destructive election. Should Mr. BJ Baker lose this election, this statement has unfortnately set up the At Large voters as scapegoats, which will only deepen the wounds.

At Large voters love our Nation as much as those at home, and we will vote to protect and enhance it and its people. We vote from as informed a position as most of those at home, and we vote with little expectation of getting anything out of it except strong tribal government and cultural continuity. And we invite Mr. BJ Baker to get to know us better so you may know that this is who we are and this is why we vote as we do. Every one of us, whether we voted for Baker or for Smith.

Julia
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 JULIA COATES

SEPTEMBER 5, 2011

Hello, everyone!

I have been running behind for three weeks so I have been delayed in maintaining a distribution list, but here we go! These will be informative communications, sometimes offering some analysis and commentary, and sharing my stand on issues, when appropriate. This time, I thought I would update you on the Cherokee Nation Holiday events, but it's been an unexpectedly quiet holiday and clearly not as well-attended as in past years. I know I have seen only a few At Large citizens from our satellite organizations, and usually there are a number here. I don't know if it's the economy, the political limbo, or the heat, or maybe all three, but it has been a light turnout this year.

There haven't been any political fireworks to my knowledge, so we're probably all glad for that. And on Sunday and Monday the heat broke, literally dropped about twenty-five degrees. Now if only we could fix the economy thing...

I know most of you have received your absentee ballots at this point. If you haven't, please contact the Election Commission offices first thing on Tuesday morning to inquire about it. Their number is 1-800-353-2895. For At Large voters, you must vote by mail, even if you live in Tulsa, Muskogee, Ft. Smith, Coffeyville, or other areas just outside the boundaries. Some people perviously tried to vote in person because precincts within the boundary were nearby, or tried to drop off an absentee ballot at a precinct, which is not allowed. If you vote absentee, you must mail in your ballot, or drop it off in person at the Election Commission offices in Tahlequah. That is the only place that unmailed absentee ballots can be accepted. If you do not receive a ballot, you may vote a "challenge ballot" at a precinct, but you must state to them that you did not receive your ballot.

If you are registered to vote but neglected to request an absentee ballot, you may participate in walk-in voting at the Election Commission offices on Saturday, Sept. 17, Tuesday, Sept. 20, Wednesday, Sept. 21, and Thursday, Sept. 22, from 9 am to 5 pm each day. This may be helpful for At Large voters who live outside the boundary, but still in proximity.

In the last election, there were 24 ballot envelopes that were improperly notarized. For this reason, there was a "mathematical uncertainty" about the outcome of the election, and thus the Court ordered the re-do. Please remember to sign your ballot envelope, have the notary sign the ballot envelope, and affix the notary seal to the envelope. (For those in CA, yes we know the state law requires the seal be on a separate sheet of paper inside the envelope, with a notation of "De Jurat" on the envelope itself. The Election Commission accepts this and looks for it.) Please make sure your ballot envelope is properly notarized and signed by all.

The Election Commission makes the last pickup of absentee ballots at the Post Office in Tahlequah as it closes at noon on Saturday, September 24. But please don't cut it that close! It is a right, but also a privilege to vote for our leadership. This right and privilege has recently been challenged by some on the Tribal Council. Don't take it for granted, and please don't take the outcome of the election for granted. As we saw in June, every vote counts! I believe that the At Large voters will make the difference in this election, so please make sure your voices are heard. Thanks!

Julia
September 5, 2011 ______________________________________________________________________

Hello, everyone,
I actually have two messages this week, but they are related. Last week, there was a Special Council meeting that was boycotted by 6 councilors so it could not happen. One of the agenda items had particular relevance for At Large citizens, so I am including an analysis of the ramifications of the boycott for At Large citizens. On another note, Chief Smith's mother, Pauline Smith, unexpectedly passed away yesterday [August 9, 2011]. For those of you in CA who know Shane, those in Texas who know Kyle, and those in Georgia who know Dwight, this was their mom as well, of course, and she was the sweetest lady you could ever hope to meet. Please keep the family in your prayers.

Thanks! Julia
August 10, 2011

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Dear At Large Citizens –

I have issued a timeline of the events surrounding the Special Council meeting of August 5. Now I will offer some commentary as to why the efforts that we hoped would be presented at this meeting had particular significance for the At Large voters.

The proposed reforms to the election code that we hoped would be discussed at the Rules Committee meeting on July 28 would have included the following:

1) At Large voters could cast a “challenge ballot” (a ballot that is kept in a separate box from the regular ballots until the Commission can ascertain that the voter is indeed eligible to vote and has not voted elsewhere or by absentee ballot) at any precinct within the Cherokee Nation. In the previous elections, many At Large voters from areas just over the boundary (Tulsa, Muskogee, Coffeyville) believed they could go to nearby polling places and cast a vote. The law currently states that all At Large voters must vote by absentee ballot. But for the thousands of citizens who actually reside just outside the boundary, it may be more convenient to simply vote in person. The reforms would have provided them a mechanism to do so.

2) The Election Commission would develop a policy to describe the criteria for accepting or rejecting challenge ballots which they would publish on the website and post at each poling place.

3) During the time when absentee ballot requests were being accepted, Election Services would post a daily update of the names of voters whose request had been accepted, along with their city and state, on a read-only basis (that one could only look up one’s own name in order to verify that one’s request had been received and logged). This would cut down on the reports of significant numbers of voters who requested a ballot but did not receive one.

4) Notarizations of ballots that are in compliance with the laws of the state in which they were notarized would be accepted and considered valid. This would address the piecemeal situation of ballots coming in from fifty states which each have different requirements, which may not be in conformity with the Cherokee Nation’s.

These reforms would have addressed many of the most common problems that emerged around absentee voting in the most recent election. They would have simplified the voting process for At Large voters, which is why both representatives of the At Large citizens, Jack Baker and I, were deeply involved in crafting the reforms and sponsoring the proposed legislation. It is extremely unfortunate for the interests of At Large voters that they could not be enacted because six members of the Tribal Council, including candidate for Chief Bill John Baker, and Deputy Chief-elect Joe Crittenden, as well as Councilors Jodie Fishinghawk, Tina Glory-Jordan, Curtis Snell, and Chuck Hoskin Jr., chose to block amending the agenda on the July 28 Rules meeting to hear them. I will note that four of these individuals (Crittenden, Fishinghawk, Glory-Jordan, and Snell) are also those who brought to the Council last fall a proposed Constitutional amendment that would have required in-person voting, thereby creating significant hardship and inability to At Large voters (it was defeated). Councilor Bill John Baker abstained from voting either way on that resolution, and stated in the Muskogee Phoenix on Aug. 6 that his reason for opposing these new reforms was because they would have made voting more difficult. But I would strenuously disagree. They would have had negligible impact on most Cherokee voters, but for the constituents of Councilor Jack Baker and I, they would have made voting considerably easier, particularly for those just outside the boundary, and would have made it far more reliable for the votes of our constituents to be counted, insuring that their voices were heard.

I attended a meeting of the Election Commission yesterday in which I joined with others in urging that additional reforms included in the proposed amendments be enacted by the Commission as policy, including new voter registration cards be sent to those who had not received one last time, prohibitions against loitering at polling places, requiring that each voter present ID (driver’s license, blue card or voter registration card), and that a third-party oversight of the upcoming election be contracted in order to instill voter confidence in the integrity of the process. These are not controversial reforms to anyone on the Council and can be easily adopted immediately.

So I can only believe that it was the reforms that would have made it more likely for At Large voters to be able to participate in greater numbers that the six councilors who prevented them from being debated found objectionable. And that continues to be dismaying to me, as I’m sure it is to all of you. We will bring these reforms to the August 25 Rules Committee meeting as a regular agenda item, so they will be debated and may be passed out of committee to full council at that time. But then we will not have a full council meeting to vote on them until Sept. 12, and after that they will go to the Acting Principal Chief, who will be Joe Crittenden, for his signature, and I would bet the farm they will be vetoed by him. Even if they are not, it will be too late for them to be enacted for the upcoming election for Principal Chief.

Since we were not able to simplify At Large voting, it remains extremely important for all At Large voters to know what the processes are for casting an absentee and At Large ballot. If you are an At Large voter, you must vote by absentee ballot, even if you live only a mile away from a regular polling place within the boundaries. The only exception is if you go into a regular precinct and state that you did not receive your absentee ballot will they let you vote there. But to do that, you must be on a list of having requested an absentee ballot. So for those in the Tulsa, Muskogee, Coffeyville, and other areas nearby, get that ballot request in immediately. The deadline for that request is this Friday, Aug. 12.

Julia Coates, At Large Tribal Council Representative

  

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Dear At Large Voters and Citizens –

As many of you have heard, a date has been set for the Special Election for Principal Chief. Saturday September 24 is the date, but for At Large voters, there are other very important dates to be aware of. The most immediate of these are from August 1-12 when an At Large voter may request an absentee ballot. Those who requested an absentee ballot and received one for both the regular election and the runoff do not need to do so again. You will receive one automatically. If you requested one but did not receive it for either or both of those elections, I would strongly encourage you to make a new request and to call the Election Services Office to confirm that your request was received. It appears that a number of requests were not recorded the first time.

The Election Commission’s website at www.cherokee.org has all the necessary information about requesting an absentee ballot. But I would add some additional advice in response to many complaints I received in the weeks prior to June 25. In the previous cycle of the campaign, both campaigns made calls to voters. A campaign should identify itself as either the Smith or Baker campaign. It will not call itself “the Cherokee Nation,” or “the Election Office,” etc. In the previous election cycle, unidentified callers were calling At Large voters, identifying themselves only as from the Cherokee Nation or the Election Office, conducting a little bogus survey, and then asking who the person was voting for. If the person was voting for the “wrong” guy, the caller replied they would either send an absentee ballot request form (which the voter never received) or that the voter didn’t need to put in a request since they had completed the survey. This scam resulted in a number of voters being eliminated from voting because they were dissuaded from turning in the form themselves. Do not be taken in by this tactic. The Cherokee Nation and the Election Services Office do not conduct surveys or take polls.

I strongly encourage all registered At Large voters to request a ballot. We presently have about 14,000 who are registered to vote, but less than 3000 who actually voted in the June election. No one should make assumptions about the outcome of this race for as we now know, this is a very close race. I firmly believe the At Large voters will make the difference in deciding the next Principal Chief. This is a very critical election for out Nation, as critical as the 1999 election after the Constitutional crisis. We are at a crossroads between two candidates who have not only very different visions of what the Cherokee Nation should be, but very different values about how to get there. Please become informed and then make your wishes known as to which path you would choose for our Nation and People.

Wado!