The process of electing new Segment Representatives for White Shield (South) and Mandaree (West) Tribal Business Council Seats, was an efficient and impressive one to witness in person as the Election Board of seven individuals did their duty and oversaw the checking in of ballots from each Segment location, then verifying totals, checking for challenges or spoils, and announcing the unofficial results over the loudspeaker to any waiting public in the well thought out, socially- distanced waiting area in the Event Center Arena attached to the now quiet Four Bears Casino. The results were tallied and verified by Terry Rainey of AES Company, who is with the company that will also certify the ballots and numbers during the prescribed 3 day waiting period. They will then provide the “Official Certified Results”. Election Board Chair, Jay Standish stated that while the results given during the election night count are not Certified, the totals given, after any challenges, are expected to be the Official Certified Results, and that there did not appear to be any appearance of discrepancies, errors, tampering or issues other than the challenges, which even if upheld, would not be enough in numbers to change any results.

Kudos to all of the Candidates for running a thoughtful and dignified campaign! And thank you to all of the hard working staff members and family members that work tirelessly behind the scenes along with the Candidates to get their person to this point in the process – Election Night 2020, more than other years, due to the challenges of Covid-19 and other variables, may go down as one of the more memorable ones in recent memory, and hopefully continued success and happiness to all of the people of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nations!