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Latest on Cherokee Dispute

By AP

Tahlequah, OK – Okla. tribe committee sets meeting about runoff

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) The Cherokee Nation Speaker of the Council says a special Rules Committee meeting has been scheduled to consider a proposal to bring in an independent company to help the election commission conduct an upcoming runoff election.

Speaker Meredith Frailey said in a statement Wednesday that Chief Chad Smith agreed to call the meeting for July 12. The runoff is set for July 23.

Frailey says tribal members need to have confidence in the way their elections are conducted, but that confidence was eroded by the June 25 principal chief election.

Unofficial results had challenger Bill John Baker beating Smith by 11 votes, but Smith was declared the winner by a seven-vote margin on June 27.

A recount days later determined that Baker beat Smith, but Smith is seeking another recount.