Blast
from
the past!!
The year was 1987, an
election year for the new Cherokee Nation of
The Blast includes an act by one of our recently departed
Cherokee Warriors and Elder, Mr. Ben Shoemake.
The election reeked of fraud as had the three previous and all since,
and this
one in 2003 already smells to hi-heaven!!
Anyway in 1987, Wilma Mankiller was challenged by Perry Wheeler each
with a
slate of council candidates to do their biding. This was before
districts; the
councilors ran at large the top 15 vote getters were the anointed.
David Cornsilk came in 16th 9 votes short, there was a 17th, an 18th
and a 19th
with a hundred or so votes, and this fact is a significant part of the
blast.
Though Mankiller won, her slate of yes people didn't, so she set out to
change that.
David Cornsilk was approached an ask to call for a recount at no cost,
he refused,
number 17 was approached, he refused, same with number 18, number 19
was
approached and agreed.
The election commission set it up, the process began, all the ballot
boxes were
set up and inspected a declared officially, and the ballot boxes
present were
the actual boxes.
The election commission was all set ready to count, in through the
escape hatch
in the back of the council chambers where the count was being held
stormed ole
Charlie Soap, Mankillers husband and some law official, yelling hold it
up,
hold it up, we got another box.. Glory be! a long lost ballot box. It
was
inspected and without explanation declared same as the others.
Folks The Constitution says the JAT (Cherokee Supreme Court) may
oversee a recount.
NOTHING about conducting it!
Next in storms old Phillip Viles the Chief Justice, and associate
Justice Jack
Rider, They kick out the Election commission seated Joe Grayson Sr. a
candidate
in the election and his son, non other than Smith's running mate in
this 2003
election, Joe Grayson Jr. To assist in the re-count.
The Recount begins with the newly found box, and quite oddly folks the
machines
that had just counted all the ballots during the voting day for some
un-explainable reason would not accept the ballots, they had to be hand
counted,
what you suspect that means? took till the wee hours of the morning.
When the process began David Cornsilk walked up to Jack Rider, and ask
was it
proper to have a Candidate involved with the recount, Rider in his
noted for
gruff voice said " did you pay for this recount" David said
"NO", Rider said "then sit down and shut-up"..
At the end of the recount guess what? Yep Mankiller’s slate came out on
top,
and to make it look good Mankiller gained ONE vote. And the number 19
guy was
anointed shot all the way up to 2nd or third place. Strangely David and
the
other threes count remained unchanged.
Well Some stuff hit the fan the next morning when the Election
Commission was
called on to certify the election Four refused to certify it, this is
where the
Just departed Warrior (Ben Shoemake) was, yes he was an election
Commissioner
and one of the four that refused to certify the debacle, another was
Florian
Griggs, the very same Council candidate in a following election that
was ruled
ineligible because she lived outside the CNO boundary and rented an
apartment
inside, just like Smith in this CNO election of 2003.