The Secretarial Election Board appointed by the legislature met the evening of Tuesday, January 26. Secretarial Election Chairperson Marion K. Duffy and board members Henning Garvin, Tara Swallow, Ryan Greendeer, and Melissa Olvera were present to count and certify official election results.
Amendment A would remove the Secretary of the Interior approval and secretarial election requirement from the process of amending the Constitution.
Amendment A was adopted by a margin of 251 to 122.
Amendment B would add a new section which reads, “In the event both the Office of the President and Vice-President becomes vacant, the Representative currently serving in the Legislature who has served the longest, shall immediately call a special meeting of the Legislature for the purpose of selecting from its remaining members a Vice-President, pro tempore to serve pursuant to this Article.”
Amendment B was adopted by a margin of 300 to 70.
Lastly, Amendment C would eliminate the General Council from the disenrollment process and add language that removal of any persons from the Membership Roll shall be determined by the Judiciary.
Amendment C was adopted by a margin of 279 to 90.
The secretarial election was conducted through mail balloting. Voter registration forms were sent to tribal members in early December. Tribal members that did register to vote received mail ballots in late December into early January. Mail ballots had to be received by the Black River Falls Post Office by 4:00 p.m. on January 26.
Contesting the election results must be in writing and received by Marion K. Duffy, Chairperson of the Secretarial Election Board no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 29.