Council takes up redistricting issue again

A proposed map of reapportioned Cherokee Council districts

By Will Chavez
Staff Writer

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – A Tribal Council sub-committee will move forward with a plan to reapportion the Cherokee Nation’s nine council districts into 15.

The Rules sub-committee met Feb. 11 to discuss the issue, which was tabled in 2007 by the previous council.

Before discussing new districts, Tribal Council Attorney Todd Hembree asked the council what priorities they wanted in order to make council representation fair, equitable and amenable in the reapportioned districts for the Cherokee public.

Fifteen councilors currently represent the tribe’s nine districts in northeastern Oklahoma. Two At-Large councilors serve Cherokee citizens living outside the tribe’s boundaries.

The 2003-07 council proposed the new districts to have 15 separate districts within the CN jurisdictional area or to have five districts with three councilors each.

“This is the 800-pound gorilla in the room. We have to settle this problem before we can get the rest of the election amendments done,” Hembree said.

At the Feb. 11 sub-committee meeting, it was decided that a redistricting plan submitted by Tribal Councilor Don Garvin, which creates 15 “almost equal” districts, would be discussed in the coming months.

Garvin said a final determination of the exact makeup of those districts would be determined later.

Speaking about Garvin’s plan, Hembree encouraged the council to make sure the 15 districts are fairly represented and the new district boundaries would be easy for constituents to understand and encourage voter participation.

Garvin, who represents District 4 and includes McIntosh, Muskogee and Wagoner counties, said he is striving for a “one man” system instead of the “two men, two votes” situation that exists in some districts. His proposal would have 15 districts each represented by one councilor.

“How that ever got started I don’t know. It’s good if you live in those districts and you get to vote twice,” Garvin said, referring to districts that have two councilors. “According to the population count, Three Rivers and Rogers (District 7) districts need to gain one seat. Adair and Mayes (counties) have to lose one seat, and nobody wants to lose a seat, I know that.”

Garvin said the inequity of representation cost some districts, including his, tribal funding for roads and other services. He said an alternative, besides redistricting, would be to give his district and the Rogers District weighted votes or two votes to match the votes of districts with two representatives.

He said the Cherokee population in District 4 is second only to the Cherokee population in Cherokee County (District 1) when studying the overall CN population in the tribe’s 14-county jurisdiction, which is another reason he wants more representation for his district.

Secretary of State Melanie Knight told the committee that Principal Chief Chad Smith and his staff are also discussing redistricting. She said redistricting is mandated by the tribe’s constitution.

Article VI of the 1999 Constitution states: “The council shall establish representative districts which shall be within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation. Fifteen of these seats shall be apportioned to afford a reasonably equal division of citizenship among the districts, and the remaining two shall be elected at-large by those registered voters residing outside the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation voting at-large.”

Knight said the administration is concerned about citizens understanding any new redistricting plan, specifically, what districts they would be in, where the new boundaries are and how to register to vote in those new districts. She said the chief is also concerned about how redistricting is going to increase voter and candidate participation.

Dist. 9 Councilor Chuck Hoskin Jr. said the council should compile a list of principals of what led the council to reapportion its districts, so that future CN leaders will not misunderstand the wishes of the current council.

Before voting for the motion, Hoskin also wanted to ensure that voting for district reapportionment would not prohibit the council from revisiting the issue at a later date. The sub-committee agreed it could revisit the issue in the future if and when it agrees upon a redistricting plan this year.

Dist. 1 Councilor Bill John Baker expressed his concerns about current districts losing their identities with redistricting and the real possibility of some councilors being required to campaign for office in multiple counties.

“There’s no way one councilor person ought to run (for office) in four different counties,” Baker said. “Your whole life revolves around Cherokee County if you’re from Cherokee County. So, if you start gerrymandering it where you are running in three or four counties, I don’t think it’s good for the people and their perception of their Nation.”

Hembree said he hopes the council decides on a redistricting plan soon because many Cherokee citizens would likely have to re-register to vote in a particular district.

“It’s not going to be an easy task implementing this thing. Even for 2011 (elections), we think of it as being far down the road, but it’s not, especially when you think about the possibility of having everyone re-register,” he said. “I cannot see an option that’s not going to require Cherokee voters to re-register to vote.”

Dist. 3 Councilor Janelle Fullbright said she hopes redistricting does not require Cherokee voters to re-register because it would be a “terrible burden.” She said it is difficult enough to get people to register in the first place.

“You certainly don’t want to go out and try to re-register all of them,” she said.

At-Large Councilor Jack Baker said, “It’s simply a matter of educating Cherokee voters about which new district they will be in, and I think it’s as simple as sending out a card.”