Choctaw Nation
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma General Election was held July 13 with official results released July 17.
The 2019 Public Notice of Official General Election Results for the propositions and Council Members in Districts 2, 5, 8, and 11 states:
“In accordance with the Chief and Tribal Council Election Ordinance, adopted by CB-124-18 (amended by CB-39-19, CB-88-19), the period for Contest of Irregularities, Death or Fraud (Article XIX) and Recount ended at 4:30 p.m. on July 17. There were no contests or recount requests, so the Election Board officially ended the General Election cycle with the signing of the Official General Election Results (Article XVIII, Section 9). All election results listed below have been duly certified by the Election Board and will be communicated to the Bureau of Indian Affairs office:
“Legislative Proposition Number 001: Passed with 11,621 votes in the affirmative.
“Legislative Proposition Number 002: Passed with 11, 451 votes in the affirmative.
“District 2 winner: Jonathan Anthony Ward (Tony) with 478 votes in the affirmative (56.43%).
“District 5 winner: Ronald Clyde Perry with 726 votes in the affirmative (79.69%).
“District 8 winner: Perry Thompson with 873 votes in the affirmative (79.80%).
“District 11: No candidate received more than 50% of total votes cast. The two candidates that received the most votes were Robert Karr (43.68%) and Bob Pate (28.41%). Article XXII, Section 3 requires a Runoff Election. However, Bob Pate submitted a notarized letter to withdraw his candidacy and remove his name from the Runoff Election, and in accordance with Article VI, Section I, a Runoff Election will not occur for this Council District. Robert Karr is duly certified as the winner by the Election Board.”
Chief Gary Batton was unopposed in the 2019 Tribal Election and will begin serving his second full term as Chief of the Choctaw Nation. Batton believes in the vision of living out the Chahta spirit of faith, family and culture and looks forward to continuing the journey of building a great future together for the Choctaw Nation.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to serve the Choctaw people for another four years,” Chief Batton said. “Thank you for the trust you have placed in me.”
District 1 Council Member Thomas Williston was also unopposed and will begin serving for a third full term.
The single candidate filing for the Council seat in District 3, Eddie Bohanan, will begin his first term in September.
Chief Batton and the six Council members will be sworn in during a ceremony beginning at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 2, in the amphitheatre at Tvshka Homma. The swearing-in ceremony will be followed by the 2019 State of the Nation address by Chief Batton, bringing to a close this year’s Choctaw Nation Labor Day Weekend Festival.