New Tahltan Band Chief Gilbert Tashoots was already on his way to Vancouver for meetings, when the Band informed him he wasn’t actually the Chief.
On November 27th, the Band held their Chief and Council elections, but the results somehow got out prematurely, before the final counts had been tallied.
Those results led Tashoots and many others to believe that he was the next Chief, prompting a quick departure as he began his duties.
While in travel the next day, the official results were released, showing that incumbent Chief Carmen McPhee had actually won the election 212 votes to 199.
OneFeather, the contractor which carried out the election, says the release of the preliminary results was due to miscommunication.
They also say that the final count is not in question, and the Band says they will work with Tashoots to sort out a fair solution.
But, some members have voiced disagreement with the election results, saying the votes were not counted on their territory, or properly scrutinized.
Others have called the election mismanaged, and some claim they failed to receive mail-in ballots on time to vote.
You can find the Band’s full statement at this link.
Official results are shown below, and available at this link.
