Vote suppression in Vian
The side of the corner store in Vian features an iconic "indian" wearing a plains-style eagle feather bonnet. Vian is about an hour's drive south of Tahlequah, in Sequoah County, which Stacy Leeds took 689 to Chad Smith's 498, according to the Cherokee Nation Election Commission, in non-absentee votes.
Monica Keen, staff writer at the Sequoyah Country Times, writes in today's edition that Thomas Drew, a longtime Vian resident, church pastor and Cherokee Freedman went to the polls on June 23rd -- and was turned away, as were others in his family. They hadn't requested absentee ballots, but the Cherokee Nation Election Commission sent them absentee ballots anyway. Because the Drews had not requested the ballots, they tried to vote in Vian, and were not allowed to vote.
It is an interesting story, the link is here, and a larger class of Cherokee Nation citizens may be affected than just one extended family of Cherokee Freedmen in Vian.
Recall, the election was within recount distance until the absentee ballots were reported, and Smith got 3492 of them, to Leeds' 1544.
