US judge reopens voting in Cherokee race

TULSA, Oklahoma (AP) – A federal judge on Tuesday approved a compromise between the Cherokee Nation and the descendants of slaves once owned by the tribe's members that will allow more than 30,000 registered voters to cast ballots in the tightly contested special election for tribal chief, if they haven't already.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy backed an agreement struck Monday between the tribe and the slaves' descendants, known as freedmen, that will reopen tribal polling stations for five days, starting Sept. 29 and ending Oct. 8, when anyone registered to vote in tribal elections, including freedmen, can cast a ballot.

A large turnout could sway the unusually tight race between Chad Smith, who is seeking a fourth four-year term as principal chief, and Bill John Baker, a longtime tribal councilman. The tribe's Supreme Court ordered the special election after recounts of ballots cast in the initial June election flipped the results several times and each candidate was declared the winner twice.

Both candidates have called for the removal of freedmen from Cherokee voting rolls, but Smith has campaigned for it more vocally and tribal experts believe Baker has the support of many of the roughly 1,233 freedmen who are eligible to vote. It remains to be seen how many of thousands of voters who already passed on the chance to vote will take advantage of their new opportunity to do so. Many live out of state, far from the polling stations in the Tahlequah-based tribe's 14-county jurisdiction.

Rodlen Brown-King, who is one of the freedmen, said she's already begun organizing a trip to the polls for her and about 200 friends who want to vote.

“It's very exciting that we're taking part in this. It's a healing process, bringing us all together,” Brown-King said.

Smith and Baker have squabbled over almost every issue facing the Tahlequah-based tribe, which with nearly 300,000 members is Oklahoma's largest American Indian tribe and one of the nation's biggest.