Ericca Unap Dennis and Morgan Kidder head to Christa Fulkerson's camp on Election Day, June 3, 2024. ECHO REED/Osage News
Election Day is here and Osages from around the country will be voting on six individuals to join the 9th Osage Nation Congress.
In the morning hours on Election Day, the rain was steady but that didn’t deter Joe Tillman, Maria Whitehorn and Traci Phillips from setting up their camps and preparing for voters around 10 a.m. According to the NWS, the rain is scheduled to subside around 1 p.m.
Seeking office is Joe Tillman (Incumbent), John Maker (Incumbent), Jodie Revard (Incumbent), Traci Phillips, Billy Keene (Incumbent), Pam Shaw (Incumbent), William Kemble, Christa Fulkerson, Maria Whitehorn, Angela Pratt, Tina Allen, Liberty Metcalf, Patrick Cullen-Carroll, Alexis Martin, Brooklin Sweezy and Jacque Jones.
“Rain is a blessing,” Tillman said, who is sharing a camp with John Maker under the main arbor at the Osage Nation Campus park. “We will be here regardless. It’s raining now but it’s supposed to stop by noon. Lunch and dinner will be served and the Tillman/Maker camp is going to carry on. Bring your umbrella and come on down, we’d love to have you.”
Whitehorn and family members were busy setting up her camp.
“It’s a beautiful day,” Whitehorn said, who has two tents set up in the middle of the park. “It’s not hot and sweaty so come on down. We’ll be here till the end. And, whatever you do today, vote.”
Phillips, who had cooks busy preparing food and setting up camp is located west of Whitehorn’s camp.
“We’ll be here all day,” Phillips said. “We’ll be here until the poll ends.”
Due to the cloud overcast, some areas in the campus park were poorly lit. Due to Wahzhazhe Elections office policy, candidates are prohibited from utilizing the Nation’s electricity or water.
Maria Whitehorn outside her camp on Election Day, June 3, 2024. ECHO REED/Osage NewsVolunteers help set up Traci Phillips’ candidate camp on Election Day, June 3, 2024. ECHO REED/Osage NewsEricca Unap Dennis pushes water out of Christa Fulkerson’s tent on Election Day, June 3, 2024.Mark Simms and former Principal Chief Jim Gray speak with candidate Joe Tillman at his camp on Election Day, June 3, 2024. ECHO REED/Osage NewsAn electrical outlet is covered at the Tillman/Maker camp. Due to election policy, candidates are not allowed to utilize the Nation’s electricity. ECHO REED/Osage NewsCongressional Candidates vying for a seat on the 9th Osage Nation Congress set up their camps for Election Day at the ON Campus Park, despite the rainfall on June 3, 2024. ECHO REED/Osage News
Absentee Ballots retrieved
Osage Nation election staff retrieved the absentee ballots from the Pawhuska Post office where they were kept after arriving in the mail cycle.
ONPD Officers Perryman and Hall escorted Election Supervisor Alexis Rencountre and Election Board member Shannon Lockett to retrieve the absentee ballots. The ONPD officers then escorted Rencountre back to the Wahzhazhe Elections office and then to the Osage Casino Hotel in Pawhuska where they will finish processing the absentee ballots. As of 12:30 p.m., Rencountre said staff has been verifying signatures on the absentee ballots and there were approximately 600 signatures left to verify.
Throughout the day, election workers and ON police will also be monitoring and enforcing the “No Electioneering” rule, which prohibits activities within 300 feet of the polling place (Osage Casino Hotel-Pawhuska) where a person’s vote may be persuaded. According to the Election Office, examples of electioneering include: distributing written or printed campaign material; wearing or possessing campaign signs, stickers, buttons, hand fans, etc.; talking about voting for or against a particular candidate or issue; candidates and their campaign committee members greeting voters as they approach the polling place.
Once the election poll closes at 8 p.m. and the ballot counting is complete, election officials will come to the campus and announce the election results in front of the Chambers Building under the portico.
Postmaster Jim Stabler shows Alexis Rencountre to the absentee ballots as ONPD Officers Perryman and Hall look on. Election board member Shannon Lockett waits to help Rencountre. CHELSEA T. HICKS/Osage NewsOfficers Perryman and Hall stand guard as Alexis Rencountre secures absentee ballots alongside Shannon Lockett at the Pawhuska Post Office. CHELSEA T. HICKS/Osage NewsAlexis Rencountre briefs Officers Hall (center) and Perryman of ONPD on how they’ll load absentee ballots into their truck. “I’m so sorry we’re getting your seat all wet!” said Rencountre. CHELSEA T. HICKS/Osage NewsOffer Perryman assists Election Supervisor Alexis Rencountre with the absentee ballots for processing at the Osage Casino Hotel in Pawhuska on Election Day, June 3, 2024. CHELSEA T. HICKS/Osage News
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Online Dictionary
Readable Experience
Content Scaling
Default
Text Magnifier
Readable Font
Dyslexia Friendly
Highlight Titles
Highlight Links
Font Sizing
Default
Line Height
Default
Letter Spacing
Default
Left Aligned
Center Aligned
Right Aligned
Visually Pleasing Experience
Dark Contrast
Light Contrast
Monochrome
High Contrast
High Saturation
Low Saturation
Adjust Text Colors
Adjust Title Colors
Adjust Background Colors
Easy Orientation
Mute Sounds
Hide Images
Virtual Keyboard
Reading Guide
Stop Animations
Reading Mask
Highlight Hover
Highlight Focus
Big Dark Cursor
Big Light Cursor
Navigation Keys
Accessibility Statement
osagenews.org
September 17, 2024
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience,
regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level.
These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible
to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific
disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML,
adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Screen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with
screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive
a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements,
alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website.
In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels;
descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups),
and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag
for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology.
To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on
as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.
Browser and assistive technology compatibility
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.
Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
