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the provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act.

§ 52.3 Group eligibility.

A constitution and bylaws may be adopted (a) by a tribe or tribes of a reservation, (b) by adult Indian residents of a reservation, or (c) by a traditionally recognized tribe, except that no group which has voted to reject the provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act shall be organized under the Act. A tribe organized under the Indian Reorganization Act shall adopt amendments to its constitution and bylaws under the regulations in this part.

§ 52.4 Assistance from the Department of the Interior.

The Department of the Interior will cooperate with and offer advice and assistance to any eligible group in drafting a constitution and bylaws or an amendment.

§ 52.5 Request to call election.

The Secretary will authorize the calling of an election on adoption of a constitution and bylaws upon request by the tribal governing body or an authorized representative committee or upon petition filed by at least onethird of the adult members of the group. An election of the adoption of amendments to the constitution and bylaws shall be authorized by the Secretary when requested as provided in the amendment article of the constitution and bylaws; however, the election shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in the rules and regulations in this part. The Secretary may propose amendments to the constitution for consideration at Secretarial elections, unless the constitution and bylaws for Secretarial elections provides otherwise. Any authorization not acted upon within ninety (90) days from the date of issuance will be considered void.

[32 FR 11778, Aug. 16, 1967]

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(1) Any adult member regardless of residence shall be entitled to vote: Provided, He has duly registered.

(2) Duly registered adult nonresidents or ill or physically disabled registered members may vote by absentee ballot. See § 52.17.

(b) If the unorganized group is composed of the adult Indian residents of a reservation:

(1) Any adult Indian resident shall be entitled to vote: Provided, He has duly registered.

(2) Absentee voting shall be permitted for duly registered residents temporarily absent from the reservation, ill, or physically disabled.

(c) For organized tribes voting in elections for amendments of the constitution and bylaws, only voters who have duly registered are entitled to vote, i.e., if the group was organized as a tribe, absentee balloting is permitted, but if the group was organized as residents of a reservation, absentee balloting will not be permitted except as provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this section.

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(a) There shall be an Election Board consisting of the Officer in Charge acting as chairman and two representatives of an authorized council or committee of Indians. In addition the Officer in Charge may appoint an interpreter and as many clerks and poll watchers as he deems necessary but they shall not be members of the board.

(b) It shall be the duty of the board to conduct elections in compliance with the procedures described in this Part 52 and in particular, (1) to see that the name of each person offering to vote is on the official list of registered voters; (2) to keep the ballot

boxes locked at all times except when ballots are being counted; (3) to see that the ballot is cast by the voter himself and that thereupon the voting list is checked to indicate this; (4) as a board to count the regularly cast ballots immediately after the close of the polls, and the absentee ballots immediately after expiration of the time for their receipt; (5) to certify the election returns; (6) to return all the ballots to the ballot boxes which shall be marked and locked together with all unused ballots and a copy of the election returns, to the Officer in Charge. [29 FR 14359, Oct. 17, 1964, as amended at 32 FR 11778, Aug. 16, 1967]

§ 52.9 District Election Boards.

Where the reservation has been divided into voting districts either by the tribal constitution, ordinance, or resolution, or by the Election Board, the Election Board shall appoint District Election Boards for each district which shall have the duties above prescribed for the Election Board except that it should return the ballots in the ballot boxes, all unused ballots and its certification (certification form as prescribed by the Election Board) of the district election results to the Election Board which will make the final recapitulation of the election results for the entire reservation and transmit it together with all of the aforementioned ballots and ballot boxes to the Officer in Charge.

§ 52.10 Voting districts.

If voting districts have not already been designated and delimited in the tribal constitution or by tribal ordinance or resolution, and in its judgment voting districts throughout the reservation are needed, the Election Board shall delimit them and designate a polling place for each district, taking into consideration the needs and convenience of tribal members.

§ 52.10a Registration.

(a) The Election Board upon receipt of authorization to conduct an election shall notify by certified mail all adult Indians of the tribe who, to its knowledge, are not living on the reservation of the need to register if they intend to vote. Notice of the need to

register shall be sent by regular mail to all eligible voters who reside on the reservation. Any Indian who will become 18 years of age within 90 days from the date of authorization shall also be notified and shall be eligible to register; Provided, He shall not be entitled to vote should election day fall before his 18th birthday. Such notice shall be sent to an individual's last known address as it may appear on the records of the local unit of the Bureau of Indian Affairs having jurisdiction. Each notice addressed to a tribal member not residing on the reservation shall be accompanied by an appropriate preaddressed registration form which shall provide space for at least the name and address of the person desiring to register and for attesting that he or she is a tribal member either 18 years of age or over, or will be within 90 days from the date of authorization. Such nonresident who wishes to participate in the election must complete and return the registration form before or in conjunction with requesting an absentee ballot. Indians living on the reservation who desire to vote must register with the Election Board in the manner it determines in sufficient time to permit compliance with § 52.11.

(b) Registration in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of the election for which it was initially required. Such initial registration shall suffice for any subsequent election called pursuant to this part within that period. Between occasions of official registration, it shall be the responsibility of each person who becomes eligible to vote to notify the officer in charge of his desire to register. Said officer shall provide him with the necessary registration form. Upon return of the properly completed form, the officer in charge shall insure that the name of said registrant is placed upon the list of registered voters. Registrants shall, likewise, be responsible for notifying the officer in charge of any change affecting their status.

[32 FR 11778, Aug. 16, 1967, as amended at 38 FR 9999, Apr. 23, 1973]

§ 52.11 Voting list.

The election board shall compile in alphabetical order an official list of registered voters, arranged by voting districts, if any, of the members of the tribe who are or will have attained the age of 18 years within 90 days from the date an election is authorized and who have duly registered to vote. A copy of this list shall be supplied to each district election board and also posted at the headquarters of the local administrative unit of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and at various public places designated by the election board throughout the reservation at least 20 days prior to the election.

[38 FR 10000, Apr. 23, 1973]

§ 52.12 Eligibility disputes.

The Election Board shall determine any written claim to vote presented to it by one whose name does not appear on the official list of registered voters as well as any written challenge of the right to vote of anyone whose name is on the list, and its decision shall be final. It shall set a date not more than ten nor less than five days before the election to pass on all such matters. All claims not presented on or before this date shall be automatically disallowed.

[29 FR 14359, Oct. 17, 1964, as amended at 32 FR 11778, Aug. 16, 1967]

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Not less than twenty (20) nor more than sixty (60) days' notice shall be given of an election and the need for nonregistered voters to register unless otherwise authorized by the Secretary. If an election is called upon less than twenty (20) days' notice, registered absentee voters shall nevertheless be allowed twenty (20) days from the giving of such notice for the Election Board to receive their ballots. In such an election the posting of the official list of registered voters shall coincide with the giving of such notice. The Election Board shall determine whether the notice shall be given by television, radio, newspaper, poster, or mail, or by one or more of these methods, and whether in an Indian language in addition to English. A copy of any written election notice may be mailed to each

registered voter and posted at the local administrative unit of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and elsewhere as directed by the Election Board. At any time subsequent to receipt of Secretarial authorization to hold the election, the text of any amendment or proposed constitution shall be made available to the eligible voters of the tribe. The manner and timing of the dissemination shall be within the discretion of the Election Board.

[29 FR 14359, Oct. 17, 1964, as amended at 32 FR 11778, Aug. 16, 1967]

§ 52.14 Opening and closing of polls.

The polls shall remain open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., local time, unless different hours are set by the Election Board and the voters informed thereof in the election notice.

§ 52.15 Manner of voting.

Any registered voter may vote by presenting himself at the polls of his voting district within the prescribed voting period, announcing to the offiIcials there his name and address and by marking and placing in the ballot box the ballot which shall be handed to him. Voting shall be by secret ballot. See § 52.17 covering absentee voting.

[32 FR 11778, Aug. 16, 1967]

§ 52.16 Ballots.

The Election Board shall cause to be prepared and furnish all ballots. Each ballot shall be stamped:

OFFICIAL BALLOT

(Facsimile Signature)

CHAIRMAN, ELECTION BOARD

Should any voter spoil or mutilate his ballot in the course of voting, he shall, in the presence of the election officials, and, with their consent, destroy it; the election officials shall then make note of the destroyed ballot and furnish the voter with another ballot.

§ 52.17 Absentee voting.

Nonresident members who have registered may vote by absentee ballot except as prohibited by § 52.6(c). Also, whenever due to temporary absence from the reservation, illness, or physical disability, a registered eligible voter is not able to vote at the polls and duly causes the election board to be notified thereof, ballot. The election board shall give or mail ballots for absentee voting to registered voters upon request in sufficient time to permit the voter to execute and return the same on or before the date of the election or within the time allowed by the election board. Together with the ballot there shall be an inner envelope bearing on the outside the words "Absentee Ballot," a preaddressed outer envelope, and a certificate in form as follows:

I (name), hereby certify that I am a member of the . . . Tribe of Indians; that I will be 18 years of age or over at the election date, am entitled to vote in the election to be held on (date of election); and that I cannot appear at the polling place on the reservation on the date of the election because (indicate one of the following reasons) I expect to be absent from the reservation-, or because of illness-, or physical disability. I further certify that I marked the enclosed ballot in secret.

Signed: (Voter's signature)

The voter shall mark such ballot and the ballot shall then be folded so as to conceal the marking and be placed in the

envelope marked "Absentee Ballot" and the envelope sealed. The voter shall then complete the certificate and place the sealed envelope marked "Absentee Ballot" together with the certificate in the outer envelope and mail it or have it delivered. The preaddressed outer envelope shall be directed to the election board at the reservation. Absentee Ballots must be received by the Election Board not later than the close of the polls on election day, except as covered by § 52.13. The election board shall make and keep a record of ballots mailed, to whom mailed, the date of mailing, the address on the envelope, the date of the return of such ballot, and from whom received, and shall count and register all such votes after all other

ballots have been counted and include them in the result of the election.

[38 FR 10000, Apr. 23, 1973]

§ 52.18 Contesting of election results.

Any qualified voter, within three days following the announcement of the results of an election, may challenge the election results by filing with the Secretary through the Officer in Charge his grounds for the challenge, together with substantiating evidence thereof. If in the opinion of the Secretary, the objections are valid and are of a nature to so warrant, the Secretary shall order a recount or a new election. The results of the recount shall be final.

§ 52.19 Interpreters.

Interpreters where needed may be provided to explain the manner of voting to such Indians who ask for instruction provided all reasonable precautions are taken so that the interpreter does not influence the voter in casting his ballot. The interpreter shall not accompany the voter into the booth.

§ 52.20 Electioneering.

There shall be no electioneering during voting hours within 50 feet of any voting place. Sample ballots will be permitted in the voting booth.

§ 52.21

Certifying election returns.

A telegraphic report should be made to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs

immediately after the results of the

election are determined. The results of the election shall be posted in the Agency Office and at other public places of the reservation. The Election Board shall certify the results of the election on the following form and transmit it to the Bureau:

Certificate of Results of Election. Pursuant to an election authorized by the Secre tary of the Interior on (Date), the attached constitution and bylaws, or amendment, of the (Name of organization) was submitted to the qualified voters of the tribe and was on (Date) duly (rejected) (adopted) by a vote of... for and... against, in an election in which at least 30 percent of the (Number of members entitled to vote) members entitled to vote cast their ballot in accordance

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As used in this Part 53:

(a) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior or his authorized representative.

(b) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Indian Affairs or his authorized representative.

(c) "Local Bureau Official" means the Superintendent, Field Representative or other line officer of the Bureau of Indian Affairs who has local administrative jurisdiction over the tribe concerned.

(d) "Bureau" means the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(e) "Tribe" means any recognized Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut tribe, organized band, pueblo, or community which is subject to the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and which has adopted a constitution approved by the Commissioner or the Secretary.

(f) "Spokesman for the petitioner" means the authorized voter of a tribe initiating a petition or designated by the initiators of a petition to speak in their behalf.

(g) "Constitution" means the organizational framework of any organized tribe for the exercise of governmental powers.

§ 53.2 Purpose and scope.

The purpose of this part is to provide uniformity and order in the formulation and submission of petitions requesting the Secretary or the Commissioner to call elections to amend tribal constitutions as such documents may provide.

§ 53.3 Applicability to tribal groups.

The regulations, policies, and procedures set forth in this part apply to any tribe which provides through its constitution for the Secretary or the Commissioner to call elections to amend tribal constitutions upon filing a petition signed by a stipulated percentage or number of tribal members who are eligible voters under the constitution of the tribe involved.

§ 53.4 Petition format.

Petitions may consist of as many pages as are necessary to accommodate the signatures of the petitioners. However, each sheet of a petition must set forth at least a summary of the objectives of the petitioners and must show the date upon which the petition was signed by each individual, as well as the current mailing address of each signer.

§ 53.5 Notarization of petition signatures.

Signatures to a petition must be authenticated in one of the following ways: (a) Through having each signer subscribe or acknowledge his signature before a notary public; (b) through having the collector of signatures appear before a notary and sign, in his presence on each sheet of the petition, a statement attesting that the signatures were affixed on the dates shown and by the individuals whose names appear thereon, and that to the best of his knowledge the signatories thereto are eligible voters. Only an eligible

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