HOMINY VILLAGE – Osage residents here voted in the five-member Village Committee election held May 8 with two first-time members and three winning re-election.
Village residents elected Alecia Hutchens and Hannah Waller for the first time and re-elected William Shadlow, Junitress Smith and Osage Minerals Council Chairman Everett Waller to the committee. Also referred to as the five-man board, the committee members must be village residents, and each serves a two-year term per the 1964 Hominy Village Constitution.
That evening, the Wahzhazhe Elections Office staff and board members assisted in providing election materials, counted the voted ballots and announced the winners as done in several recent village elections. Residents came to the village community building for the election starting at 6 p.m.
Election Supervisor Alexis Rencountre asked the residents for nominees and started a list of names voiced by the residents. A total of eight residents were nominated with the five top-vote getters and fellow nominees Diana Hogan, Jeffrey Willcox and Christel Jones.

Assistant Election Supervisor Courtney Piearcy and board members Shannon Lockett (chair), Terry Hazen (vice chair) and Belle Wilson also accompanied Rencountre in conducting the village election. At the request of the former village committee, the Wahzhazhe Elections Officials assisted with the village election after signing a memorandum of agreement with the committee on May 6.
This year, the election officials brought laptop computers and a printer used to create ballots with nominee names at the building. Those ballots were then printed and given to residents for voting once their village residency was confirmed.
Residents received nearly two hours to vote, and others arrived at the building to vote later during that time. Shortly after 8 p.m., the election officials started counting votes and Rencountre announced the results.
In first place, Hutchens received the most votes (17) and then Shadlow received 16. Smith and Everett Waller tied for third place with each receiving 13 votes and therefore winning the third and fourth places. Hannah Waller, who is Everett Waller’s daughter, came in fifth with 11 votes. The remaining results were: Hogan (10), Willcox (8) and Jones (3).
Everett Waller thanked the election officials for their work and expressed congratulations to the winners, noting most are second or third-generation board members in their respective families.
At a later meeting, Hutchens said the new board met and held an officers’ election to choose the posts. Hutchens said she is the current Village Committee Chair; Shadlow is Vice Chair; Smith is Treasurer, Hannah Waller is Secretary and Everett Waller is a Village Committee member.
