Federal Judge To Hear Plea From Cherokee Nation Freedmen

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- A federal judge in Washington, D.C. is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday on whether votes from Cherokee Freedmen should count during this Saturday's election for Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

The tribe says the Freedmen are being allowed to cast provisional ballots that may or may not be included in the totals.

The Cherokee Supreme Court voted to kick out the Freedmen, saying members had to have blood ties to the tribe, meaning they could not vote in that election. That decision removed 3,000 members from the Cherokee Nation.

On September 14, 2011, Cherokee Nation Attorney General Diane Hammons filed a motion asking the nation's supreme court to reconsider that ruling.

9/14/2011 Related Story: Cherokee Nation Attorney General Wants Court To Reconsider Freedmen Case