Sioux Valley election officer says vote is ‘nullified’

The electoral officer for Sioux Valley Dakota Nation has filed a report disputing the election results for chief and council that were announced Monday.

Former chief Jennifer Bone was declared winner by a vote of 371 to 212 against incumbent chief Vince Tacan after a tumultuous vote-counting process late last week.

Electoral officer Burke Ratte told the Sun Tuesday that he submitted a six-page report to Indigenous Services Canada after the federal agency requested a status update on the election. Ratte said he told the agency that the First Nation’s improvised ballot count on Friday should be considered null.

“She asked when I can complete (the election). I responded back with my report: ‘I can’t. And the election is nullified,” Ratte said in a phone interview.

“What do you do if somebody disrupts a poll, takes all the ballots and you’re unable to certify them?”

The report includes his account of what happened, including statistics of the election, supporting documents and his professional advice to nullify the ballot count, he said.

Indigenous Services Canada has not yet responded to the Sun’s inquiry on what comes next.

Tacan said the situation is going to court. He declined to say more on Tuesday, but the day before he called the ballot count and swearing-in ceremony that stretched past 2 a.m. Saturday illegal.

Bone did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. She said on the weekend she believed the results were official.

The commotion comes after an unusual election process that stretched multiple days.

Ratte was conducting the First Nation’s election count on Thursday night when a group forcibly opened a locked door to the election hall. Ratte said that security informed him they were unable to guarantee the integrity of the building.

“I said, ‘Keep them out.’ And they said, ‘We can’t. The door is damaged,’” he said. “It was reported to us that the door was damaged, and they were unable to keep it locked, and that the damage was done by the group of individuals.”

First Nations safety officers occupied the doorway to keep people out.

Ratte then requested RCMP support. Police arrived, and Ratte postponed the ballot count. Ratte was later escorted out of the community under supervision of RCMP, and transferred the signed ballot boxes into the care of First Nations safety officers to secure until a future count.

Ratte said he received threats throughout the day.

RCMP said Friday that there had been no reports filed of damage to the building, no arrests made, no reports of weapons and the threats had been unsubstantiated.

On Friday, Ratte said, he sent a notice to the Sioux Valley governance team to announce the election was under review, with an update to come as soon as possible.

The notice was not posted, and a group of elders and community members sent him a letter relieving him of his duties, retrieved the ballot boxes, opened them and counted them in a livestream on YouTube.

Ratte said the letter he received relieving him of his duties was unsigned and undated.

The election officer said the conduct of individuals on Thursday and Friday was in violation of the community’s election law.

“It’s an offence to open a ballot box if you’re not authorized to do so,” he said. “It’s an offence under the law.”

Ratte said he believes that the incumbent chief and council, who hired him to oversee the election, are still holding office.

“Nullifying this illegal vote … doesn’t mean there’s no council in place. It’s just the council of the day is still in place. That’s it, which would be Vince Tacan and his five councillors,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s still council today.”

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com