MCA Plebiscite Results are in

The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne held their plebiscite on Saturday Dec. 3 to determine which of two criteria for Candidate Eligibility would move forward in the Amendments to the Akwesasne Election Law. The two options available for this community opinion poll were whether a candidate is eligible if they have a ‘mother OR father is/has been an Enrolled member on the Akwesasne or any other First Nations Membership list;’ OR ‘mother AND father are/have been an Enrolled member on the Akwesasne or any First Nations Membership list.’

The first option would have kept Section 8 of the Akwesasne Election Law the same as it has always been. The second option was a change that was recommended in one of the three community public meetings held to discuss the proposed amendments. According to the law enactment process, draft amendments had to go through different stages of review before they were brought out to the community. Once they were ratified by an MCA Resolution to accept the amendments in principle, the full text of the draft law was brought out to the community for the three public readings.

The Working Task Group on the Akwesasne Election law then compiled the comments, suggestions, concerns and recommendations into a report to Council. The MCA at that point decides on whether to incorporate those suggestions and recommendations into the Final Version of the Law. It was at this point that the issue on the ‘or/and’ options was debated and the decision was made to allow the eligible voters of MCA to decide on the path forward.

160 voters turned out to the polls to decide on the option that would be incorporated into the Final Version of the Law. 71 votes were in favor of Option A (22 in Kana:takon, 19 in Kawehno:ke and 30 in Tsi Snaihne) and 89 votes were in favor of Option B (17 in Kana:takon, 42 in Kawehno:ke and 30 in Tsi Snaihne). Based on the results of the plebiscite poll Option B, ‘Whose mother AND father are/have been en Enrolled member on the Akwesasne or any First Nation Membership list,’ is moving forward.

The Akwesasne Election Law Amendments are now finalized and will be available for public viewing for a two-week period prior to a ratification vote. This ratification vote will be a secret ballot vote that will be held on Saturday, Dec. 17 during a Special General Meeting from 9:00am until 12:00pm at the St. Regis Recreation. The secret ballot voting will be open for three-hours and only eligible voters of MCA may vote on the Final Proposed Amendments to the Akwesasne Election Law. The actual question being asked has yet to be released by MCA, but it will most likely be a question with a ‘yes/no’ response. An example would be, ‘Do you accept the Akwesasne Election Law Amendments as outlined?’ with the options of ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Next week the final proposed amendments to the Akwesasne Election Law will be printed in Indian Time Vol. 29 #50 in their entirety, for more information on this issue contact the Akwesasne Justice Department at 613-575-2250.