Hoopa Valley Tribe Investigating Alleged Botched Election, Second Recount Happening Tonight Under Police Supervision

Hoopa Valley Tribe June 16 initial and recount tallies. [Our additions are made in green and red colors]

Story by RHONDA BIGOVICH, Two Rivers Tribune

On June 16, Hoopa Valley Tribal Members cast their votes for three separate districts up for grabs in the Tribe’s General Election. A neck and neck race in the Norton Field District prompted a recount that revealed an 80 vote miscount.

A miscount of that magnitude, immediately preceded by the resignation of the election board chairperson, has prompted allegations of a rigged election. The tribe has since launched an internal investigation as well as a total recount of all of the ballots this evening (Wednesday, June 24).

Tonight, in this building, ballots are once again being counted. [Photo by Rhonda Bigovich]

Prior to the recount, only three votes separated the candidates vying for the Norton Field District seat. Incumbent Ryan Jackson (who was also the former chairman of the tribe) appeared to be the victor with 437 votes in the initial count. His challenger, Arnold “Deacon” Ferris trailed by a mere three votes with a total of 434. The race was so close that Ferris asked for a recount to be sure the count was accurate. He made his formal request for a recount on Friday, June 19. His formal request cited other compelling evidence that a recount was warranted, such as a board member exiting the building to talk to a candidate’s family member, and election board members campaigning on social media.On Monday, June 22, Election Board members received a text from their board Chairperson Marla Jackson. In that text message she resigned from her post stating that she no longer lived within the 100-mile radius required by tribal law to serve as a councilmember or election board member. But, after the recount revealed the 80 vote discrepancy, Marla Jackson has fallen under suspicion of rigging the election.Marla Jackson said, “I resigned due to taking a job out of the area and I am out of the 100 mile radius of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. I live in San Rafael, and I won’t be coming to Hoopa anytime soon.”

A second Election Board Member, Caroline Horne had the job of ‘verifier’ during the June 16 original count. Marla Jackson was the ballot reader and Horne’s job was to verify the reading was accurate. Today, Horne made a statement on Facebook that indicated she had a medical condition that prevented her from participating in the recount that occurred on Tuesday evening. Rumors of her resignation circulated, however, those rumors were false.

Also, on Monday, the Hoopa Valley Election Office was ordered to close pending an investigation. …And, today, alternative election board members were installed and will conduct a recount of the Mesket Field and Campbell Field portion of the General Election tonight.

Hoopa Tribal Police [Image from Two Rivers Tribune]

This time, they will be supervised by the Hoopa Valley Tribal Police Department.During an interview with the Two Rivers Tribune today Ryan Jackson said, “First off, I just want to congratulate Deacon. As an elected official we have to accept the results of an election either way. It is the will of the people.”“At this point it appears to me that the election process is flawed and has the ability to be tainted,” he said.

Many tribal members are questioning the validity of the Tribe’s election process, and this incident will likely be the beginning of big changes to their antiquated system of paper ballots and hand tallying votes.

“No matter what comes of this election, the ordinance has to be looked at and upgrades to our systems are needed to allow the Hoopa People to feel like their votes count,” said Ryan Jackson. “The results are going to be whatever they are but I think the way this process has unfolded has sent the Tribe into more of a tailspin. If this is the end of it for now, I can walk away with my head held high. I have served almost a decade on the Tribal council.”

The outcome of the investigation will determine how the Hoopa Valley Tribe chooses to pursue systemic changes and/or pursue punitive measures if necessary.

“I don’t know the laws for this, or what the consequences may be. I would like to know what happened too. I won by three votes the first night and the next thing I know I am down by 80-plus votes. I think there are a lot of things that need to be looked into,” Ryan Jackson said. “I want to get to the truth too. The amount of votes that now separates the count vs. the recount shows something major happened there. That to me raises a lot of questions. Where did my votes go? Where did his come from? I have the same questions.”

“If someone is prosecuted as a result of something happening, then so be it. But at the same time we need to upgrade and modernize our election process. The integrity of our elections process has been questioned for a long time, and we owe it to the membership to have elections that are fair,” Ryan Jackson said.

Norton Field’s new and official victor Arnold Deacon Ferris said, “Leading up to this election my focus has been on maintaining my core values. Win or lose, the result was predetermined by our K’ixinay (immortals/angels/spirit people) and that gave me peace throughout this campaign and election process. Even after the election, negativity could not take over.”

“Yes, we are all angry that something as sacred and personal as our right to vote was tampered with. I am encouraging us all to focus on the solution, not the problem. We’ve spent enough time pointing fingers and tearing one another down. I would like to focus on the obviously broken system that would allow such blatant cheating,” Ferris said. “Obviously, election reform has been added to my ever-growing list of priorities. One member’s vote being tampered with or uncounted is one too many in my opinion.”

“I am honored to have this opportunity but beyond that, I understand the gravity of our fiduciary duties as leaders and I intend to take the most precious amount of care in every decision I make,” said Ferris. “I want to thank my opponent Ryan Jackson for his years of service to the people and wish him and the entire Jackson family the best.”

Ferris said that he is ready to serve.

“Moving forward, my door is always open. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get busy. Please come see me, call or email. Even if you want to chew me out. I want to hear from our membership. Whether you voted for me or not, I understand that I work for all of our members,” Ferris said.

The Hoopa Valley Tribe’s Election Ordinance was last amended in 2014. The ordinance establishes an Election Board with five members and five alternate members. There are seven districts on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation. A primary election precedes each General Election (held in June of each year) for the purposes of narrowing the race to the top two candidates in each district race. A full copy of the Tribe’s ordinance can be found here.

The Two Rivers Tribune will update this report as more information becomes available.