OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Citizens of the Cherokee Nation are voting in elections that will decide who will be their principal chief and deputy principal chief.
Cherokee Nation spokeswoman Julie Hubbard says elections began Saturday morning and polls will close at 7 p.m., with results expected later in the evening.
The election will also determine eight tribal council seats, one of which is for an at-large position that represents Cherokee citizens who live outside the nation’s 14-county jurisdiction.
The tribe has 246,000 Oklahoma residents and 370,000 citizens total. More than 74,000 are registered to vote in the election.
Two candidates are running for principal chief: Chuck Hoskin Jr., the tribe’s former secretary of state, and Dick Lay, a tribal board member and rancher in the nation’s District 12.
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