Shannon Lockett, vice chairperson of the Osage Election Board, reads off the names for the official ballot placement for the June 4 election. Photo by Shannon Shaw/Osage News
Osage Election Board draws for candidate placement on June ballots
All candidates are certified and will be placed on the ballot in the order they were drawn
The Osage Nation Election Office has certified all candidates seeking office for the Third Osage Nation Congress and has drawn names and made it official as to the order those candidates will appear on the ballot.
More than 20 candidates attended the drawing, which took place at the Wah Zha Zhi Cultural Center at 9 a.m. April 12. All 34-candidate names were put in a hopper and selected one at a time by the election board.
The official candidate ballot listing on Election Day, June 4:
1) John Jech
2) RJ Walker
3) Berbon Hamilton
4) Justin Mays
5) Anthony Shackelford
6) Candy Thomas
7) Nicki Revard Lorenzo
8) Linda Lazelle
9) Bill Mashunkashey
10)Matthew Shunkamolah
11)Cecelia Tallchief
12)Shannon Edwards
13)Jenny Miller
14)Becky Johnson
15)John Maker
16)Joseph Roger Lynn
17)Jerri Jean Branstetter
18)Angela Marie Pratt
19)Amanda Proctor
20)Shane Rencountre
21)Jozi Tall Chief
22)Olivia Gray
23)Mark Simms
24)Joe Mashunkashey
25)Roscoe Mays
26)Archie Mason
27)Carl Sellers
28)Hank Hainzinger
29)Rosemary Shaw
30)Teresa Hudgins
31)Jim Ryan
32)Jacque Jones
33)Kathryn Red Corn
34)Maria Whitehorn
The candidate drawing started out in a solemn and serious tone April 12, but ended after election board staff goofed and forgot to include Cecelia Tallchief’s name in the hopper, causing the selection to start over.
There was a collective groan when staff announced the process would begin again after realizing the mistake at candidate 31.
Candidates moaned and groaned, while others laughed at the snafu.
“Cecelia’s always causing trouble!” a candidate joked while others laughed. Another candidate did a fist-pump and said, “Yes!” as they walked by, clearly happy that they would have another shot at a different placement on the ballot. Another candidate on their way to get coffee rolled their eyes and said, “You gotta be kidding me.”
After the second drawing was completed the Osage News asked candidate RJ Walker if he felt a candidate’s chances greatened when their name was placed high on the ballot. Walker is number two on the ballot.
“I’ve thought about that and with six candidates even if you get later [placed low] on the ballot, people are going to vote for who they’re going to vote for,” Walker said. “To be quite honest I don’t know if placement matters.”
Maria Whitehorn, who is number 34 on the ballot, said she is delighted she was picked last.
“I love being last on the ballot,” she said. “Go down first thing and mark the last one, I love that.”
About the Author
Editor
Shannon Shaw Duty, Osage, is the editor of the Osage News. She is a former assignment editor for reznetnews.org, a Native American news, information and entertainment website. Shaw was also a reporter at the Santa Fe New Mexican. Shaw is a graduate of the American Indian Journalism Institute. She is also a Chips Quinn Scholar and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
