A candidate for the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council is asking the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene in an election this Saturday.

Robin Mayes claims the Cherokee Nation is preventing Freedmen descendants from enrolling in the tribe. A federal judge, however, denied his request to hold open the election.

“I’ve exhausted all tribal remedies on this violation of civil rights for federally-recognized Cherokee citizens who have been wrongfully denied their right to vote,” Mayes told The Muskogee Phoenix. “Now, I don’t think it’s right for me not to appeal to the higher court.”

Mayes attempted to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks to determine whether the Freedmen, who are the descendants of former slaves, retain citizenship within the tribe under a post-Civil War treaty.

Get the Story:
Freedmen ruling in election challenged (The Muskogee Phoenix 6/21)

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