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HomeElectionWahzhazhe Elections mailed 2,938 absentee ballots for 2024 election

Wahzhazhe Elections mailed 2,938 absentee ballots for 2024 election

Election Day is Monday, June 3. Voting takes place from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Osage Casino Hotel in Pawhuska

For the 2024 Osage Nation General Election, the Wahzhazhe Elections Office mailed a total of 2,938 absentee ballots to Osages who submitted complete absentee ballot request forms.

The Election Office in Pawhuska processed the absentee ballot request forms received by the April 19 deadline for those requests and started mailing absentee ballots that same day. Each mailed absentee ballot included instructions and a postage-paid envelope to send voter-marked ballots to the Pawhuska Post Office address printed on the envelope.

This election year, there are six Congressional seats out of 12 total opening and each elected individual will serve a four-year term. There are a total of 16 certified candidates listed on the ballot for voters to choose from.

Also on the ballot is one Constitutional amendment yes/ no question asking whether to allow appointees to be confirmed by the Legislative Branch during special sessions in addition to the two regular 24-day sessions held each year.

Mandated by the Constitution, the Hun-Kah Session starts on the last Monday in March and the Tsi-Zho Session starts Tuesday following the Labor Day holiday in September.

Election Day is Monday, June 3, and all absentee ballots are due by that day in the Pawhuska Post Office to be counted with in-person voted ballots. Any ballots received after that day will not be counted.

At 10 a.m. on Election Day, election officials, with ON Police Department officer escorts, will collect the absentee ballots from the Post Office and those will be transported to the polling place, which is the Pawhuska Osage Casino & Hotel.

In-person Election Day voting takes place from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

The 2,938 absentee ballots requested this year are a slight increase by 36 from the 2,902 absentee ballots requested for the 2022 General Election, which included races for Principal Chief, Assistant Principal Chief candidates and whether to retain the Nation’s four Judicial Branch judges.

Election Supervisor Alexis Rencountre said in the 2022 General Election, a total of 1,390 absentee ballots were received by that year’s Election Day to be counted with in-person ballots. A total of 2,475 Osages voted in the 2022 General Election, which includes absentee, early voting and Election Day voting.

Author

  • Benny Polacca

    Title: Senior Reporter

    Email: bpolacca@osagenation-nsn.gov

    Instagram: @bpolacca

    Topic Expertise: Government, Tribal Government, Community

    Languages spoken: English, basic knowledge of Spanish and French

    Benny Polacca (Hopi/ Havasupai/ Pima/ Tohono O’odham) started working at the Osage News in 2009 as a reporter in Pawhuska, Okla., where he’s covered various stories and events that impact the Osage Nation and Osage people. Those newspaper contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics and issues from tribal government matters to features. As a result, Polacca has gained an immeasurable amount of experience in covering Native American affairs, government issues and features so the Osage readership can be better informed about the tribal current affairs the newspaper covers.

    Polacca is part of the Osage News team that was awarded the Native American Journalists Association's Elias Boudinet Free Press Award in 2014 and has won numerous NAJA media awards, as well as awards from the Oklahoma Press Association and SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter, for storytelling coverage and photography.

    Polacca earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and also participated in the former American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota where he was introduced to the basics of journalism and worked with seasoned journalists there and later at The Forum daily newspaper covering the Fargo, N.D. area where he worked as the weeknight reporter.

Benny Polacca
Benny Polaccahttps://osagenews.org

Title: Senior Reporter

Email: bpolacca@osagenation-nsn.gov

Instagram: @bpolacca

Topic Expertise: Government, Tribal Government, Community

Languages spoken: English, basic knowledge of Spanish and French

Benny Polacca (Hopi/ Havasupai/ Pima/ Tohono O’odham) started working at the Osage News in 2009 as a reporter in Pawhuska, Okla., where he’s covered various stories and events that impact the Osage Nation and Osage people. Those newspaper contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics and issues from tribal government matters to features. As a result, Polacca has gained an immeasurable amount of experience in covering Native American affairs, government issues and features so the Osage readership can be better informed about the tribal current affairs the newspaper covers.

Polacca is part of the Osage News team that was awarded the Native American Journalists Association's Elias Boudinet Free Press Award in 2014 and has won numerous NAJA media awards, as well as awards from the Oklahoma Press Association and SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter, for storytelling coverage and photography.

Polacca earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and also participated in the former American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota where he was introduced to the basics of journalism and worked with seasoned journalists there and later at The Forum daily newspaper covering the Fargo, N.D. area where he worked as the weeknight reporter.

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