(i) Qualifications. Election Board members must be eligible to vote in tribal elections in order to serve on the Board. No more than one member of the Election Board shall be from any one recognized household. The following persons are not eligible to serve the Election Board: current members of the Tribal Council; anyone who resides in the household of a member of the Tribal Council; anyone who plans to seek election to the Tribal Council during his or her term of service on the Election Board; anyone who resides with a candidate for Tribal Council; and tribal employees and anyone whose parent, brother, sister, child, or grandparent is a candidate for Tribal Council.

Tribal employees may not be assigned any duties which relate to the direct running of a tribal election, other than coordination with Election Superintendent for publication of election timelines in the newsletter, contracting with external Election Vendor, and ensuring constitution and ordinance timelines are communicated to all parties.

(ii) Selection. The Election Board shall consist of at least three members appointed by the Tribal Council including one member to serve as the Superintendent of the Election and Board. At the Council’s meeting in March of each election year, the Council shall review the terms of the Election Board and appoint new members if necessary.

(iii) Term of Office. Election Board members shall each serve a four-year term from the date of appointment and may be removed only for cause.

(iv) Conflict of Interest. Election Board members must abide by the highest standards of conduct in fulfilling their duties and responsibilities as members of the Election Board. They shall carry out their duties and responsibilities in the highest ethical manner. They shall maintain high standards of honesty, integrity, fairness and impartiality in carrying out their duties and responsibilities and shall avoid any actions in their role as Election Board members which would adversely reflect on the Election Board or the integrity and fairness of the election process.

(v) Compensation. Election Board members shall be reimbursed for mileage and other expenses incurred in connection with their official duties. At the discretion of the Tribal Council, the Election Board members may be compensated further for their services.

(vi) Performance of Duties; Removal. Upon accepting the appointment, each member shall sign an oath, which shall become part of the election records, stating that he or she will serve according to the best of his or her ability and shall make every effort to prevent fraud or abuse of the election process. Failure to perform the duties of the Board as set forth in this chapter or any other misconduct shall be grounds for immediate dismissal by the Tribal Council.

(vii) Vacancies. In the event of a vacancy on the Election Board, the Tribal Council shall appoint a qualified replacement for the remainder of the term of service.

(i) Certify from time to time and as necessary the list of adult tribal members eligible to vote;

(ii) Publish the date of the election and the rules related to candidates and announce such date and rules in a General Council newsletter sufficiently in advance of the election to notify all interested tribal members so that candidates can meet the time deadlines in this chapter;

(iii) Review candidate’s statements as provided in STC 2.02.020(1)(c) and publish a voter’s pamphlet as provided in STC 2.02.020(1)(e);

(iv) Approve the form of ballots prepared for the election;

(v) Facilitate the preparation, mailing and return of mail-in ballots, witness the Enrollment Clerk certify that voters’ addresses are correct, and see that ballots are mailed out 30 days in advance of their due date.

(vi) Conduct in-person voting at the annual Samish General Council meeting, and at other elections as scheduled;

(vii) Review and approve any election procedures;

(viii) Implement the disposition of challenged and rejected ballots at the conclusion of tribal voting;

(ix) Implement the Superintendent’s rulings on challenges to the conduct of the election, including defaced ballots, the issuance of new ballots, and failure to vote at the conclusion of tribal voting;

(x) Count the ballots at the conclusion of tribal voting;

(xi) Certify the results of the election after the conclusion of voting at the annual General Council meeting;

(xii) Swear in new Tribal Council members upon the certification of the annual Tribal Council election, at the conclusion of the annual General Council meeting, in a special Tribal Council meeting called by the Tribal Council;

(xiii) Implement the verification of in-person voters with Tribal Card and photo ID, and verify signatures of mail-in ballots returned to the Tribe in timely fashion;

(xiv) Receive and verify candidate, recall, and initiative/referendum petitions on behalf of the Tribal Council Secretary;

(xv) Implement other matters directly related to the conduct of tribal elections.

(i) The Election Board shall coordinate the preparation of the ballot and approve the final ballot prior to the ballot being printed. The names of the certified candidates shall be in an alphabetical order. The ballot shall contain the following instructions:

YOU MAY VOTE FOR ONE (1) CANDIDATE FOR EACH TRIBAL COUNCIL POSITION LISTED. PLACE AN "X" BY THE NAME OF EACH PERSON YOU WISH TO VOTE FOR. YOU MAY NOT GIVE ANY CANDIDATE MORE THAN ONE (1) VOTE. ANY BALLOT WITH MORE THAN 1 VOTE FOR A SINGLE TRIBAL COUNCIL POSITION SHALL BE INVALID! WRITE-IN CANDIDATES ARE NOT ALLOWED AND THE INCLUSION OF A WRITE-IN CANDIDATE’S NAME SHALL INVALIDATE YOUR BALLOT. IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE, THE ELECTION BOARD WILL HELP YOU.

(ii) Official ballots shall be printed on white paper with black ink in BOLD letters and use 14-point size font on the entire ballot. Ballots shall also be numbered and bar-coded. Sample ballots may be printed on colored paper and shall be clearly labeled “sample ballot” and shall not be counted if placed in the ballot box. The vote will be conducted by both mail-in voting and in-person voting, which shall take place on the day of the election at the General Council meeting.

(iii) Whenever election activities under this chapter are conducted, all members of the Election Board shall be present. No persons, other than Election Board members operating in their official supervisory capacity or an independent third party, shall remain or loiter in the voting area when voting is taking place, mail-in ballots are being processed, or votes are counted. In the case of an emergency, if at least two Election Board members are not available, the Tribal Chairman shall appoint and swear in acting Election Board members to conduct the election. The Election Board shall have authority to remove any person from the premises who violates this provision.

(iv) Two persons from the Election Board, or the third party contractor hired by the Superintendent with the consent of the Tribal Council, shall at all times control and oversee and call the vote, handle sign-in and hand out of ballots and oversee placement of ballots in ballot box.

(i) Distribution of Mail-In Ballots. Mail-in ballots will be mailed to tribal members on the list of qualified voters 30 days before the scheduled date of the tribal election. Each tribal member eligible to vote and who has a valid current address at the time of the mailing will be mailed a mail-in ballot. The date or dates of mailing a mail-in ballot shall be logged by the Election Board or third-party vendor.

(ii) Voting Procedure. Mail-in ballots must be physically received at the Election Board’s designated location by close of business on the Saturday before the General Council meeting or by the date and time set by the Election Board for other elections under this chapter. Ballots that are not mailed must be received by the Election Board no later than the time set for the polls to close on the day of the election.

(iii) Casting Vote. When voting, the mail-in voter shall mark the ballot and place it in the inner envelope and seal it. The inner envelope shall then be placed in the outer envelope and sealed. The outer envelope shall then be signed by the voter. The outer envelope shall then be returned by mail to the Election Board in the return envelope to the PO box approved by the Election Board. The Election Board shall publicize this address to tribal voters and shall include this address on the return envelope.

(iv) Collection of Mail-In Ballots. All mail-in ballots will be collected by the Election Board on the Saturday before election day at close of business, time to be updated and posted bi-annually in election materials. The Election Board shall collect ballots from the PO box and deposit them in the ballot box prior to in-person voting on election day. As possible, the Election Board shall verify signatures on mail-in ballots before depositing them in the ballot box. On election day, the Election Board will count the mail-in ballots along with ballots cast in person at the polling place.

(i) Exclusion of Public. No person other than Election Board members acting in their official capacity or third party vendor representatives shall remain or loiter in the voting area when in-person voting is taking place, or when mail-in ballots are being processed. The Election Board shall have authority to order the removal of any person from the premises who violates this provision.

(ii) Voting Procedure. One Election Board member shall verify the identity of in-person voters while another Election Board member shall hand out ballots and supervise the ballot box.

(i) Immediately after the poll closes, the Election Board shall secure the ballot box in a place where tampering cannot take place. No ballots shall be counted until the official count takes place. Immediately after the polls are closed at 12:00 p.m., the Election Board will count the ballots cast in the election. The Board must validate that each ballot was cast by verifying the identity of the person who cast each ballot based on the signature on the ballot. The term “signature” as used in this chapter may include a unique electronic identifier assigned to each eligible tribal voter. In the event that the voter’s signature cannot be verified, the Board shall reject the ballot, place it in the rejected ballot box and shall not count it.

(ii) After the procedures related to rejected ballots as set forth in this subsection have been completed, and any challenges to rejected or spoiled ballots have been resolved, the Election Board shall count the votes cast in a separate room, subject to the provisions of STC 2.02.060(1).

(iii) The Election Board shall review and certify the results of the election once the vote count has been completed, and notify the Tribal Council that the returns are ready to be reported. The Superintendent will announce the results at the General Council meeting and cause the results to be posted in a public place. Recount requests must be made according to STC 2.02.060(2) and must be made after the results of the election are certified, but before the winning candidates are sworn in. Winning candidates shall take office in accordance with STC 2.02.020(4). Ballot measures shall take effect in accordance with STC 2.02.030(10).

(i) For purposes of this subsection the term “challenge” means the dispute, by a tribal voter at the General Council meeting, of the rejection of a mail-in ballot by the Election Board.

(ii) Immediately upon the closing of the polls and before the ballots are counted, the Election Board shall open the rejection box and allow any interested tribal voter to challenge the rejection of a mail-in ballot. A challenge shall be resolved at the time it is made.

(iii) If the result of a challenge is that a rejected ballot is valid, the outer envelope shall be opened, and the inner envelope deposited in the mail-in ballot box in the same manner as other mail-in ballots.

(iv) Unchallenged rejected ballots shall remain unopened and be destroyed after the election has been certified and the 15-day timeline for filing an appeal of the election has run, except that if an appeal is filed, the rejected ballots will be destroyed at the conclusion of the appeal. The decision of the Election Board as to rejected ballots shall be final, subject to an election appeal to the Tribal Court.