Cheyenne, Arapaho officials ask agencies to monitor vote
TribesBallot tampering, fraud suspected in election
BY VALLERY BROWN
Comments 
6
Published: October 3, 2009
Representatives for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes have requested outside agencies monitor upcoming primary elections for possible fraud.
Amber Bighorse, lead staff attorney for the tribes’ legislature, said tribal representatives and candidates running against incumbent
Gov. Darrell Flyingman expect ballot tampering and fraud, in particular with absentee ballots. Primary elections are Tuesday.
Five representatives from the eight-member legislature sent letters to the
Carter Center, a human rights organization founded by
President Jimmy Carter.
They also requested help from
United Nations in the ballot monitoring process, Bighorse said.
The Carter Center denied the request to monitor elections, but Bighorse said appeals have also been made to the
Native American Rights Fund.
"Absentee ballots could win the election,” said
Joyce Wood, campaign manager for
Janice Boswell and
Leslie Wandrie.
Boswell and Wandrie are seeking the governor and lieutenant governor seats, respectively.
Calls to Flyingman were not returned Friday.
Wood said they are particularly concerned that returned absentee ballots sent back because of bad addresses could be tampered with.
The tribe has seen its share of turmoil in recent years. Tribal members in 2007 voted twice to recall Flyingman. Both votes were overturned by the tribal court because of violations in election proceedings.
In 2007, the
Federal Indian Gaming Commission audited an estimated $50 million of the tribes’ gaming revenues and a tribal official in January was convicted of embezzling more than $100,000.
Two tribal officials were also indicted in 2008 by a federal grand jury on 26 counts of embezzlement and conspiracy.
"We want transparency,” Bighorse said. "In all parts of our government, from the courts, the election boards and the executive branch.”
Bighorse said the tribes are caught up in lawsuits stemming from bad leadership. The tribe is losing money, and tribal members are losing faith in the system, she said.
"We can’t move forward and make progress unless we have a legitimate government,” Bighorse said. "Fair, impartial elections is where we have to start.”
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I thought his letter was reminiscent of other letters he has sent in the past(which he has also reproduced in the Watonga Republican) to agencies outside of the jurisdiction of our Tribes. Flyingman's letters illustrate his tendency toward admonishing others when they have done NOTHING WRONG. He sent a letter to the BIA in early 2009 demanding that they not talk to the Tribes' Legislators - the Governor of the Cheyenne and Arapahos attempting to prohibit federal officials from speaking to or even reading letters from tribal officials who are not the Governor?? I don't know, but that sounds a little fascist to me!!
In his letter to Vallery Brown, the Governor also claims that we need no election monitoring because we have a fair election commission - HAHAHAHAHA!!! The second set of ballots were sent out precisely because the election commission (which is comprised of friends and relatives of the Governor) was refusing to place people on the ballots who had a constitutional right to be on there. In that same letter, the Governor made the claim that three of the Legislators were kept off the ballot because of thousands of dollars in debt owed to the Tribes. He failed to mention that the debt was fabricated by the Governor for the sole purpose of keeping individuals from obtaining placement on the ballots. Oddly enough, the money he claims is owed was money that was advanced to certain tribal officials for travel taken between 2002 to 2006...trips that the Governor himself went on. The Tribes did not EVER seek either receipts from this travel or repayment for any travel taken. That is until the Governor CREATED a non-existent administrative process for determining this debt - this administrative process was arbitrarily created about three weeks before the deadline for filing candidacy. On May 5, 2009 all three legislators were notified of an alleged debt, and they were given 10 days to locate and provide receipts proving they traveled on tribal business from years as far back as 2002. All of them asked for additional time to locate their receipts, and all requests for additional time were denied; administrative determinations of debt followed immediately. All legislators appealed the determination and all appeals were denied the very day they were filed. Oddly (again), the adminstrative appeals were conducted, for every single person who appealed in ONE DAY, and the appeals were conducted by the very same division that made the initial adminstrative determination. Hmmm. The debts were first alleged on May 5th, an administrative determination, an appeal and a final decision were all completed by the June 1st filing deadline. That's 25 days from the time ALL was initiated to the time the appeal was decided. Additionally, the Governor's hand-picked (and allegedly corrupt) Trial Court judge declared the debts were valid after one hearing - despite the fact that one of the Legislators provided each and every receipt showing when and where she traveled. The debt was declared valid anyways. Crazy. (All of this is public record, by the way.)
Anyways, here is my point. If the Legislators and loads of other tribal members are crying foul about election fraud and then the Governor's response is to write a scathing letter to the journalist who reported the tribal members' concerns, I am highly suspcicious. If tribal members are concerned about the absentee ballots being the cornerstone of fraudulent activity, I am a bit concerned that our election commission has deliberately created a situation in which absentee ballots are being sent out TWICE. (Case in point: See Candace's comment below.)
I don't trust the current C&A administration...Flyingman is always spending our money as he pleases. He buys land without getting authorization or even any input from our Tribal Council on what land to buy or what investments to spend our money on. He keeps getting us into expensive court battles, most recently spending five to six million dollars on lawyers and expert witnesses for a lawsuit that he thought was worth only about $900,000...and then losing the lawsuit, no less, (and WORSE, losing it to the extent that it cost the Tribes $500,000 plus attorney fees - another $500,000??!!) If he thought the lawsuit against SW Casinos was only worth $900,000, why would he spend so much pursuing it instead of attempting to settle? I'll give a hypothesis: His attorney doesn't care if he wins or loses, cause he still made $2,000,000 off the Tribes just on this one case. His attorney makes millions more perpetuating the infighting with ludicrous court filings in a corrupt tribal court.
Flyingman acts like the Tribes' money and our resources are his own personal source of wealth. He treats tribal employees like they are worthless drones who can be controlled because he now controls all positions of employment within the Tribes (when he kicked out SW Casino, he garnered control over the the most important source of tribal revenue - and man, people have been getting fired left and right!!!) If tribal employees do not show up to Tribal Council meetings and vote the way the Governor wants them to, they risk losing their jobs. This is the culture of EXTREME corruption that we have to endure.
I hope justice prevails this election cycle. If it does not, my prediction is that the Cheyenne and Arapahos will simply resort to traditional law and forcibly remove our corrupt judicial officers, our commissioners and the sad, useless administration that oppresses its own people.
Ha'ho.
Now Chad 2wife Smith wants to be Chief for Life?