§ 12-101. Minerals Council elections.
A. Purpose. Section 2, Article XIII of the Constitution requires the Osage Nation Congress to “enact an election Code governing all necessary election procedures.” The Constitution also stipulates that “the Osage Minerals Council is recognized as an independent agency within the Osage Nation” and that the Council may “promulgate its own rules and regulations as long as such rules and regulations are not inconsistent with the laws neither of the Osage Nation nor with the rules and regulations established by the United States Congress in the 1906 Allotment Act.”
B. Understanding both requirements, the Osage Nation Congress hereby delegates the promulgation and adoption of rules and regulations governing Minerals Council elections to the Minerals Council subject to the requirements set out in subsections (C) and (D) of this section.
C. Minerals Council election rules and regulations shall:
1. Ensure a fair and open election;
2. Contain prohibitions against electioneering and fraud;
3. Provide for a separate committee, group, or entity to oversee the election;
4. Provide a procedure for contesting Minerals Council elections in the Trial Court of the Osage Nation;
5. Be consistent with the Constitution and laws of the Osage Nation; and
6. Be adopted by Minerals Council resolution.
D. Any qualifications established for voters in Minerals Council elections shall not include membership in the Osage Nation.
E. The rules and regulations promulgated by the Osage Minerals Council for Minerals Council elections are exempt from the administrative rulemaking requirements set forth in Osage law. ONCA 17-107, eff. Oct. 4, 2017.