Hobby & Recreation Group
Statement from Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians Tribal
Chairman Floyd Jourdain Regarding Tribal Election
Absentee Ballot Process
Chairman Floyd Jourdain Regarding Tribal Election
Absentee Ballot Process
Red Lake Net News
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May 20, 2010
To All Red Lake Band Members,
I am writing to you to address some of the complaints the Tribal Council has
received regarding the absentee ballot process in the 5/19/10 Red Lake Tribal
elections. On Monday, May 17, 2010, the Red Lake Tribal Council held a special
meeting and voted 5-4 to extend the absentee ballot process to allow more time
for off-reservation members to vote. However, the next day on Tuesday, May 18,
2010, this decision was rescinded unanimously by the Tribal Council and the
elections were conducted as originally planned with no extension of the absentee
ballot deadline.
The Tribal Council also unanimously voted to appoint Band member Desiree
Wilson, former Executive Secretary to the Secretary’s office to oversee the run-off
election processes. This is based on the fact that Ms. Wilson has many years
experience working on tribal elections as an appointee of prior Tribal Secretaries.
The reasoning behind this action is that Red Lake Tribal Council Members,
Candidates and other band members were receiving numerous complaints from
off-reservation members in the weeks and days leading up to the election that they
had not received ballot request forms from the Secretary’s office, their ballots had
not arrived, or were coming in too late to allow them to vote.
As the Chairman of the tribe, I was required to intercede in this issue as there was
a lot of confusion by off-reservation voters and Tribal Council Members. Therefore,
the Tribal Secretary, Kathryn “Jodi” Beaulieu, as the constitutional overseer of the
elections, was brought in to explain any and all processes that were used, and to
answer questions as to why so many off-reservation Red Lake Members were
calling in to lodge complaints.
The following was determined at the special meeting on May 17, 2010, and May
18, 2010:
For this election, the Secretary used a different method than in past elections to
mail our Band Members the notice of election and the absentee ballot request
form. This time around, the Secretary used a newsletter style booklet with a
request form inserted inside of the newsletter. According to the Secretary, this
was mailed to all Band Members on February 19, 2010, by Richards Publishing of
Gonvick, Minnesota.
In our previous Tribal elections, absentee voters were mailed a “letter” style notice
of election along with a personalized bar coded ballot request form and a return
envelope enclosed. This was sent out by a company the Red Lake Band hired
called Automated Election Service of Rio Rancho New Mexico that does both
tribal and state elections throughout the United States. Usually, this was done
about 4 to 8 weeks prior to the Tribal elections. This “close to the election”
timeline also served an important “reminder” role in getting more off-reservation
Members to vote.
This time they were told only to prepare and mail out the final ballot when ready
because the Secretary’s office was mailing out the ballot requests. The returned
requests were directed to the Secretary’s Executive Assistant, Mary Ringhand,
who received off-reservation request forms.
Automated Election Services did not receive the enrollment referendum
information that they needed in order to print absentee ballots from the Secretary
until May 1, 2010. They were told by the Secretary that her office was still working
on the language for the enrollment referendum that was to be included on the ballot.
As a result, according to the Secretary, requests for ballots were mailed out three
months prior to the 5/19/10 election but the absentee ballot mailing process to off-
reservation Band Members did not begin until May 3, 2010. This three-month time
gap between the mailing of the notice of election and the actual 5/19/10 election
created the extra confusion, along with the fact that the request for ballot form was
inserted in a newsletter.
At the special Tribal Council meeting, the Tribal Council, candidates and Members
in attendance received no explanation as to why a different method was used for
this May 19, 2010 election? The Secretary simply stated that she did not know
about past processes and she followed the election ordinance instructions.
After further review and consultation with both Richards Publishing, and Automated
Election Services, it was discovered that an extension of the absentee process
was simply not possible because of the constitutional mandate that the election
must be carried out in the month of May and the amount of time required by mail to
carry out the process was not sufficient. Therefore, the extension of the absentee
deadline option was rescinded by the Tribal Council.
Nine to eleven days after the May 19, 2010 election was not enough time to carry
out an election process that requires at least 21 days to safely send a request form
to Band Members
all over the country, receive the request form back from them, mail them a ballot,
then receive the ballot back from members in time for it to be counted.
The ballots would have still been arriving to the absentee ballot committee in early
June, well after the 28th of May that was the proposed extension deadline. The
Memorial Day dates of the 29th, 30, and 31st were not an option because of the
federal holiday.
Therefore, after careful review, the Red Lake Tribal Council decided to proceed
with the election as originally planned with no extension of the deadline changes
for the absentee ballot process.
In summary, considering the volume of complaints the Red Lake Tribal Council,
Candidates and Band members were receiving, an extension to absentee voting
was temporarily enacted, then withdrawn, by the Tribal Council after careful review
over a two -day period on May 17 and May 18, 2010.
Only ballots meeting the original election deadlines, and election ordinance
requirements were accepted. The election ordinance was followed as prescribed
by law.
The absentee process used by the Secretary’s office was new and unfamiliar to
many, and therefore, led to some confusion on the part of some Band Members.
The Tribal Council, who has the authority to set the election rules, determined that
the process that was familiar to Band Members in previous years shall be used in
the run-off election and in all future elections, in order to avoid any future confusion,
and to allow all voting members the opportunity to cast their vote in a timely
manner.
Respectfully Submitted,
Floyd Jourdain Jr.
Red Lake Tribal Chairman
Cc: Tribal Council
To All Red Lake Band Members,
I am writing to you to address some of the complaints the Tribal Council has
received regarding the absentee ballot process in the 5/19/10 Red Lake Tribal
elections. On Monday, May 17, 2010, the Red Lake Tribal Council held a special
meeting and voted 5-4 to extend the absentee ballot process to allow more time
for off-reservation members to vote. However, the next day on Tuesday, May 18,
2010, this decision was rescinded unanimously by the Tribal Council and the
elections were conducted as originally planned with no extension of the absentee
ballot deadline.
The Tribal Council also unanimously voted to appoint Band member Desiree
Wilson, former Executive Secretary to the Secretary’s office to oversee the run-off
election processes. This is based on the fact that Ms. Wilson has many years
experience working on tribal elections as an appointee of prior Tribal Secretaries.
The reasoning behind this action is that Red Lake Tribal Council Members,
Candidates and other band members were receiving numerous complaints from
off-reservation members in the weeks and days leading up to the election that they
had not received ballot request forms from the Secretary’s office, their ballots had
not arrived, or were coming in too late to allow them to vote.
As the Chairman of the tribe, I was required to intercede in this issue as there was
a lot of confusion by off-reservation voters and Tribal Council Members. Therefore,
the Tribal Secretary, Kathryn “Jodi” Beaulieu, as the constitutional overseer of the
elections, was brought in to explain any and all processes that were used, and to
answer questions as to why so many off-reservation Red Lake Members were
calling in to lodge complaints.
The following was determined at the special meeting on May 17, 2010, and May
18, 2010:
For this election, the Secretary used a different method than in past elections to
mail our Band Members the notice of election and the absentee ballot request
form. This time around, the Secretary used a newsletter style booklet with a
request form inserted inside of the newsletter. According to the Secretary, this
was mailed to all Band Members on February 19, 2010, by Richards Publishing of
Gonvick, Minnesota.
In our previous Tribal elections, absentee voters were mailed a “letter” style notice
of election along with a personalized bar coded ballot request form and a return
envelope enclosed. This was sent out by a company the Red Lake Band hired
called Automated Election Service of Rio Rancho New Mexico that does both
tribal and state elections throughout the United States. Usually, this was done
about 4 to 8 weeks prior to the Tribal elections. This “close to the election”
timeline also served an important “reminder” role in getting more off-reservation
Members to vote.
This time they were told only to prepare and mail out the final ballot when ready
because the Secretary’s office was mailing out the ballot requests. The returned
requests were directed to the Secretary’s Executive Assistant, Mary Ringhand,
who received off-reservation request forms.
Automated Election Services did not receive the enrollment referendum
information that they needed in order to print absentee ballots from the Secretary
until May 1, 2010. They were told by the Secretary that her office was still working
on the language for the enrollment referendum that was to be included on the ballot.
As a result, according to the Secretary, requests for ballots were mailed out three
months prior to the 5/19/10 election but the absentee ballot mailing process to off-
reservation Band Members did not begin until May 3, 2010. This three-month time
gap between the mailing of the notice of election and the actual 5/19/10 election
created the extra confusion, along with the fact that the request for ballot form was
inserted in a newsletter.
At the special Tribal Council meeting, the Tribal Council, candidates and Members
in attendance received no explanation as to why a different method was used for
this May 19, 2010 election? The Secretary simply stated that she did not know
about past processes and she followed the election ordinance instructions.
After further review and consultation with both Richards Publishing, and Automated
Election Services, it was discovered that an extension of the absentee process
was simply not possible because of the constitutional mandate that the election
must be carried out in the month of May and the amount of time required by mail to
carry out the process was not sufficient. Therefore, the extension of the absentee
deadline option was rescinded by the Tribal Council.
Nine to eleven days after the May 19, 2010 election was not enough time to carry
out an election process that requires at least 21 days to safely send a request form
to Band Members
all over the country, receive the request form back from them, mail them a ballot,
then receive the ballot back from members in time for it to be counted.
The ballots would have still been arriving to the absentee ballot committee in early
June, well after the 28th of May that was the proposed extension deadline. The
Memorial Day dates of the 29th, 30, and 31st were not an option because of the
federal holiday.
Therefore, after careful review, the Red Lake Tribal Council decided to proceed
with the election as originally planned with no extension of the deadline changes
for the absentee ballot process.
In summary, considering the volume of complaints the Red Lake Tribal Council,
Candidates and Band members were receiving, an extension to absentee voting
was temporarily enacted, then withdrawn, by the Tribal Council after careful review
over a two -day period on May 17 and May 18, 2010.
Only ballots meeting the original election deadlines, and election ordinance
requirements were accepted. The election ordinance was followed as prescribed
by law.
The absentee process used by the Secretary’s office was new and unfamiliar to
many, and therefore, led to some confusion on the part of some Band Members.
The Tribal Council, who has the authority to set the election rules, determined that
the process that was familiar to Band Members in previous years shall be used in
the run-off election and in all future elections, in order to avoid any future confusion,
and to allow all voting members the opportunity to cast their vote in a timely
manner.
Respectfully Submitted,
Floyd Jourdain Jr.
Red Lake Tribal Chairman
Cc: Tribal Council
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