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.