Votes tallied in tribal election
Votes tallied in tribal election
Canvassing of tribal primary ballots went into the early morning hours ending around 2 a.m. on Wednesday morning at the 4 Bears Casino Event Center in New Town. On Tuesday, tribal voters went to the election polls to vote for three tribal council representatives and a chief judge for the Fort Berthold Tribal Court.
New Town, White Shield, and Mandaree districts voters cast their ballots for tribal council candidates in each of their respective districts. Voting was also held reservation-wide for the chief judge position.
The current unofficial results show New Town/Little Shell incumbant councilman Malcolm Wolf losing to challengers Scott Eagle and Donna Morgan by four votes in the primary election. Eagle received 195 votes, Morgan 88, and Wolf 84.
An election board tally showed a total of 623 votes counted in the New Town district for 12 candidates in the race. If there’s no recount that changes the unofficial ballot totals, both Eagle and Morgan will be on the district’s general election ballot in November.
Tribal Councilman Frank White Calfe received 109 votes, easily receiving the highest number of votes in the White Shield district. Challenger Fred Fox received 69 votes, the second highest number of votes cast in the district. The six tribal council candidates in the district received a total of 299 votes.
Both White Calfe and Fox will be on the White Shield general election ballot in November. White Calfe is the current treasurer of the tribal business council.
It was a very close race between three candidates in the Mandaree/West Segment area. Arnold Strahs received 78 votes, Randy Phelan 77, and Lloyd Vigen 75. Unofficially, a total of 374 ballots were tallied among the seven candidates running for the Mandaree council position. The current Mandaree councilwoman, Evelyn Hale, did not file to run for election to the position.
Right now, if a vote recount doesn’t change things, both Strahs and Phelan will be on the Mandaree ballot in November. Phelan, a former tribal councilman from the Mandaree district, served during the Tex Hall administration.
