As part of the 2024 Osage Nation General Election duties, the Wahzhazhe Elections Office hosted a candidate workshop and also determined the June 3 election ballot order and where candidate campsite locations would be.
On March 28, 15 of the 16 Osages running for Congressional office attended the workshop in-person in Pawhuska on the Nation’s campus and one attended by virtual means. Election staff covered topics including the election processes, candidate rules and law mandates and rules for the candidate campaign reporting statements that will be due from all candidates.
Election Supervisor Alexis Rencountre and Assistant Election Supervisor Courtney Piearcy delivered their presentation to the candidates, which also included reminders such as the deadline for absentee ballot request forms is April 19. Those wishing to vote by mail must complete absentee ballot request forms and send them to the Election Office in Pawhuska by 4:30 p.m. CST that day.
For those voting in-person on Election Day or during the May 31 and June 1 early voting days, Rencountre said voters must show a government-issued photo identification card as part of proving identity to the polling place workers. She said tablets will be used at the polling place – the Pawhuska Osage Casino & Hotel – which will supply information, including if the voter has requested an absentee ballot to vote in the election.
“It has to be overrode by an election official in order to actually give you a ballot,” Rencountre said of instances where people who initially requested an absentee ballot instead show up to vote in-person. “You have to give us documentation stating that you didn’t vote that (absentee) ballot, so you are owning that you’re not voting twice, you’re admitting to us you’re not voting twice intentionally.”
Also, election data is kept, showing who’s voted and if a second ballot is received for the same election, it cannot be overridden, Rencountre said.
Voting will take place in the casino’s special event rooms and Rencountre said the polling place will have curbside voting available for those who cannot make the walking distance into the facilities. “We are prepared for that, we’ve always offered curbside voting before and we will bring out a ballot and (tablet) to the voter and they will sign a form asking for voter assistance and it’s not just one election official that takes it out there. It’s normally myself and a board member,” she said.
Rencountre said her office will begin mailing absentee ballots starting on April 19, which is the deadline for those requests. In accordance with the election code, the absentee ballots will be mailed from Pawhuska by election staff to voters who have completed the application process to request those ballots.
All voted absentee ballots “have to be received (by June 3) Election Day, mail runs at 10 a.m. and I stand there until every piece of mail is ran through,” Rencountre said. With ON police escorts, the absentee ballots will be transported to the polling place for further processing that day.
Ballot order
After the presentation, Rencountre and Piearcy held two drawings to determine the order in which the candidate names will appear on the ballot, as well as the picking order for Election Day candidate campsites in the ON campus park, located across the service road from the ON Museum and Chambers Building.
The 2024 Congressional candidates will appear in the following non-numbered order on the ballot:
Billy Keene, John Maker, Pam Shaw, Jacque Jones, Maria Whitehorn, Tina Allen, Alexis Martin, Jodie Revard, Liberty Metcalf, Angela Pratt, Christa Fulkerson, Traci Phillips, Joe Tillman, William Kemble, Patrick Cullen-Carroll and Brooklin Sweezy.
For the Election Day candidate campsites, Rencountre said there will be 12 total campsites occupied by 13 candidates who requested them by the application deadline. The candidates selected their campsites once their names were drawn by election staff.
Candidates Maker and Tillman are sharing a campsite and their combined names were drawn first and they picked the standing arbor closest to the service road and parking lot. There are two other standing arbors with picnic areas in the park and the remaining spots are uncovered.
Sweezy picked the southern arbor and Cullen-Carroll will have the north arbor for their respective campsites.
The remaining candidates who picked uncovered campsites are: Whitehorn, Keene, Jones, Revard, Fulkerson, Metcalf, Phillips, Allen and Pratt.
In other election-related updates, the Election Board unanimously approved the ballot language with the candidate names order and one Constitutional amendment ballot question during their April 3 meeting.
For more information on the general election and absentee ballot request forms, visit the ON Election Office website at: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/services/elections or call toll-free (877) 560-5286.
