There were a lot of inquiries through emails and phone calls from members wanting information about what to do about the election results. So many are concerned about the future of the tribe with yet another addition to the Sault Tribe of Unit One Indians.
I bounced back and forth between different groups of members gathered at the Big Bear Arena to observe the election count process therefore my opinion that I am expressing is also the opinion of all those I spoke to throughout the evening.
Joe Eitrem and Cathy Abramson were the top two vote getters in unit one with Bernard Bouschor and Nathan Wright playing tag early on. Nathan began to lengthen the distance between himself and Bouschor, finally maintaining a lead of approximately 100 votes...give or take a few. When the tally stopped and it appeared that all votes were in, it was clear that Eitrem, Abramson and Wright had won the available seats, so I left.
Shortly after, we received a call saying that Bouschor had the 3rd spot instead of Wright. It seems that Isaac McKechnie, long time close friend of Bernard Bouschor, somehow discovered that not only had hell frozen over but a large quantity of ballots had not been counted. It just so happened that those ballots were votes for Bouschor which put him ahead of Wright by a handful of votes. Imagine that!
Add to that the mysterious backpack girl. Several members observed a large orange backpack and white bag located within the ballot count area which is not allowed. All other bags were far removed from the ballot count area. As I moved closer to take a picture with my trusty cellphone camera, several of the election committee members, who were watching me watching them, scooped up the bags and placed them on the table and then stood in front of them. It seemed to those observing that they were attempting to hide the bags from view.
They continued to give me the evil eye but eventually the young woman with the backpack placed the bag on her back, paced around for several minutes, walking to one side then the other and back again but still managed to slip out unobserved. I was told that no one who was in the ballot count area was to leave until all ballots were counted and the election was considered complete. So...not only were there bags and backpacks in an area where they were not allowed but also the caretaker/owner left along with the bags at a time when she was not allowed to leave.
Of course, the rules may have been broken but the word 'allowed' is inaccurate in the above statement since the backpack girl was 'allowed' to keep the bags in an area that they should not have been and she was also 'allowed' to leave before the count was done. She was 'allowed' to do this by the election chairman Mike McKerchie since it is his responsibility to ensure an honest and accurate election whenever he figures out how to do that.
Good thing that McKerchie and most of the election committee are all related to each other or to Cathy Abramson who has managed to win another 4 year term...how many is this? How does she do that when no one knows what she has done during all those years except take trips all over the country? Isn't she related to Joe McCoy too?
Good thing Bernard Bouschor is such a good friend of Joe McCoy's so he can lead him around and tell him how to run the tribe using his numerous years of experience as the former chairman. Good thing the election chairman Mike McKerchie is a great friend to Bouschor as well. With Bouschor's buddy, Isaac McKechnie as McKerchie's right hand man, they were able to ensure that all the good friends and relatives on the election committee worked well together as a winning team even if it meant overlooking a few silly rules.
One thing I don't understand though is why so many members did not get ballots in the primary but the number of voters that normally vote didn't seem out of whack. The explanation given on the rare occasion that requests were answered was that there was a problem with the address. Funny how that happens when most say they didn't move and were receiving all other tribal mail including all the campaign materials.
Then there was the large number of members who received a ballot for the primary election that didn't get one for the general election even though they didn't move in that short time period. What do you suppose happened there?
The more I think about it the more I realize that something just doesn't add up here...like ballot counts.....like votes. Actually folks, I am faking the stupidity since we all know what this adds up to. What cracks me up was the dirty looks on the faces of those trying to obscure the view of the bags as if I had some nerve to notice. Comments made, which won't be published on this blog, suggest that I should just shut up and go away. The nerve of me, or anyone else for that matter, to question or be suspicious.
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