Incumbents sweep Tribal Council election
Election official Aileen Meyer makes sure a vote is entered at the Arlee Senior Citizen Center during last Saturday's Tribal Council Election.
Final tabulations in last Saturdays’ Confederated and Salish Kootenai Tribes Tribal Council election were announced on Wednesday.
All incumbents retained their seats.
Jim Malatare, of Arlee District, Reuben Mathias, of the Elmo Distrcit, Steve Lozar, of the Polson District, Carole Depoe Lankford, of the Ronan District and Joe Durglo, of the St. Ignatius District were all announced as winners.
The initial results did not include absentee ballots, of which there were more than 130, or contested ballots, of which there are 201, which result from a resident voting in a district outside of their home district, according to CSKT communications director Rob McDonald.
Early vote tabulations and opponents are listed below:
Arlee:
Jim Malatare, Incumbent, 554
James “Bing” Matt, 540
Elmo:
Reuben Mathias, Incumbent, 584
William “Willie” Burke, 503
Polson:
Steve Lozar, Incumbent, 791
Naida R. Lefthand, 299
Ronan:
Carole Depoe Lankford, Incumbent, 619
Gene Sorrell, 478
St. Ignatius:
Joe Durglo, Incumbent, 678
Patty Stevens, 414