Panel to review OST election

By Ryan Woodard, Journal staff | Tuesday, February 06, 2007

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Oglala Sioux Tribe President John Yellow Bird Steele is bringing in a three-judge panel from outside the tribe to study the 2006 OST election in a move that could lead to a new presidential election.

Steele said he agrees with former President Alex White Plume's claim that White Plume's name shouldn't have been taken off the ballot before the Nov. 7 general election.

"Alex was the top vote getter in the presidential race, and he was removed after the primary," Steele said. "They missed the time frame to determine his eligibility. I think that he should have been on the ballot, and the felony should have been addressed if he would have won the election."

Steele said he decided to bring in a three-judge panel to study the 2006 election process, which included the White Plume confusion.

Steele said he is bringing in the panel "specifically to look at what went wrong so we can correct it for the future, so that it doesn't happen again."

The panel also may recommend changes to the tribal constitution, Steele said.

He said the three judges also could recommend that the November presidential election be re-done, which would pit White Plume against Steele for the tribe's presidency. Steele said he's willing to do that.

"If they determine that Alex should have been on the ballot, then I'm willing to have an election with him," Steele said.

White Plume, who took over for impeached president Cecelia Fire Thunder in June 2006, was removed from the ballot before the 2006 OST general election in November, which Steele won.

White Plume said his name was improperly removed from the ballot, that the election was null and void and that he remained the rightful tribal president, even after Steele was sworn in Dec. 5.

The BIA in December recognized Steele and his administration, which included tribal representatives, judges and Vice President William "Shorty" Brewer.

Steele and White Plume even worked out of the tribal building simultaneously, both claiming to be president, for a few days before White Plume left the building. But he continued to claim the presidency and still does.

"I'm still president of the tribe," White Plume said last week, adding that he has been waiting for a three-judge panel to be set up to make a decision.

"Since they took office and took the power, I'm waiting for them to set the process up," he said of the Steele administration. "This is a test to see if they're going to be honest about it."

Steele said that only the presidential race could be reconsidered by the panel and that no further elections can be held for council representatives or tribal judges.

"This does not concern the council or the chief judge - there were no complaints on those elections," Steele said.

However, some tribal members and outgoing council members protested the entire election process, which was surrounded by controversy beginning with the Oct. 3 primary.

The tribal court of elections appeals ruled the tribe's Oct. 3 primary null and void because of misprinted ballots and other irregularities. But the tribal council dismissed that election appeals court and named a new one. Plans for the general election proceeded.

White Plume and Steele had finished first and second, respectively, in the primary and were set to face off in the general election.

But on Nov. 3, the tribal elections board - not to be confused with the court of elections appeals - removed White Plume's name from the ballot because of his federal assault conviction in the 1980s.

White Plume appealed, and the court of elections appeals ordered a new election. The elections board refused.

Former president Fire Thunder replaced White Plume on the ballot, and she lost to Steele in the general election.

White Plume called the election null and void and made plans for another primary and general election, which he scheduled for, respectively, Feb. 13 and March 20.

White Plume said in December that he still planned to hold the new elections. However, last week he said that the new election had been delayed by a lack of cooperation from the Steele administration.

"Things kind of went haywire," he said. "The new council that took over won't acknowledge that (the dates for a new election), and they're clinging to power."

White Plume said he heard about the three-judge panel coming to settle election issues. But he said he has already declined an offer from Steele to have a one-on-one election, and thinks a new election should be held.

"John Steele offered me an election between him and I," he said. "I said no. This whole election was wrong. It needs to be a total new election."

The OST executive board voted in January to bring in the three-judge panel.

The regional BIA office deferred comment on the OST matter to the Indian Affairs office, which oversees the BIA, in Washington.

Gary Garrison, a public affairs official from that Indian Affairs office, confirmed that the BIA will provide "technical assistance funding" for the three-judge panel.

However, he said, funding would be the extent of the BIA's involvement in the matter.

"The BIA will have nothing to do with the actual moderation or the panel. That's strictly tribal," Garrison said.

He said the regional BIA office in Aberdeen indicated to him that the panel would look mostly into correcting the tribe's election procedure for future elections instead of holding a new election.

But he said the BIA wouldn't interfere with whatever the panel and the tribe decide.

He said that if the tribe decides to change its constitution after conferring with the panel, changes must be filed with the Department of Interior.

The three judges selected are John St. Clair, chief judge of the Court of Indian Offenses of the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming; John Thorne, an American Indian lawyer and Court of Appeals judge for the state of Utah; and Daniel Naranjo, a former chief judge of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, a former U.S. magistrate and an "expert on alternative dispute resolution."

Steele's administrative assistant, Eileen Janis, said the three have already agreed to settle the matter, and that Naranjo is coordinating the effort.

An exact date for the panel's arrival has not been set.

In contrast to what Steele said, Janis said the panel could lead to a whole new election.

"With what the executive board passed, it could lead to a new election, it could lead to just a presidential election. But we have to see what they say," Janis said.

White Plume, who said he has been working out of his house while waiting for the Steele administration to rethink the election, said he still believes he was treated unfairly.

"My rights were really grossly violated," he said. "That could happen to anyone, so people need to show concern to what happened."

Steele said he is trying to correct that violation, even though he had no fault in the election.

"I did keep my silence. I did abide by the rules. I had nothing to do with the election. I just participated and won," he said. "But I am ready to correct the situation."

Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com