[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
Every elected official of the Tribe is subject to recall by the voters of the Tribe.
(b) 
A petition shall not be filed against an official until the official has actually performed the duties of the office to which elected for a period of one year during the current term of that office.
(c) 
An official sought to be recalled shall continue to perform duties of the office until the result of the recall election is certified.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
The size of the recall petition shall be 8 1/2 inches by 13 inches. On a recall petition, the words "recall petition" shall be in twenty-four-point boldface type; "we, the undersigned," et cetera shall be printed in eight-point type; "warning" and language in the warning shall be in twelve-point boldface type; and the balance of the petition shall be in eight-point type. The name of the official and his/her office whose recall is being sought shall be in type not larger than twenty-four-point. The petition shall be in the following form:
(1) 
The circulator of a petition shall be a qualified and registered voter of the Grand Traverse Band.
(2) 
The circulator of the petition shall sign and date the certificate of circulator only after all voters' signatures appearing on the petition on the date of filing have been obtained. Signatures which were obtained after the date the circulator signs the certificate or are contained in a petition which the circulator does not sign and date shall not count. A circulator may sign the main body of the petition prior to certifying the petition circulator may sign the main body of the petition prior to certifying the petition.
(3) 
The invalidity of one or more signatures on a petition shall not affect the validity of the remainder of the signatures on the petition.
(4) 
A person shall not sign more than one recall petition per official whose recall is sought.
(5) 
A person who signs a petition with a name other than his or her own is guilty of a misdemeanor subject to a $100 fine and/or 90 days in jail.
(6) 
A person who knowingly makes a false statement in a certificate on a petition, a person not a circulator who signs as a circulator, or a person who signs a name as circulator other than his or her own is guilty of a misdemeanor, subject to a $100 fine and/or 90 days in jail.
(7) 
A person who aids or abets another in an act which is prohibited by this section is guilty of a misdemeanor subject to a fine of $100 and/or 90 days in jail.
(b) 
Before being circulated, a petition for recall of an official shall be submitted to the election board.
(c) 
The election board, not less than 10 days after submission to it of a petition for recall, shall meet and shall determine whether the reasons for recall stated in the petition are or are not of sufficient clarity to enable the course of conduct which is the basis for the recall. Failure of the election board to comply with this subsection shall constitute a determination that the reasons for recall stated in the petitions are of sufficient clarity to enable the official whose recall is being sought and the voters to identify the course of conduct which is the basis for the recall.
(d) 
The election board shall notify, not later than 24 hours after receipt of a petition for recall, the official whose recall is being sought of the reasons stated in the petition for recall, and of the date of the meeting of the election board to consider these reasons.
(e) 
Upon notification of the reason or reasons for recall by the election board, the official whose recall is sought and the sponsors of the petition may appear at the meeting and present arguments on the clarity of the reason or reasons.
(f) 
If reasons for recall are determined to be unclear and the sponsors and the official and the election board are not able to formulate a clear reason, the process shall be terminated.
(g) 
If the reasons of the recall are determined to be clear following a meeting of the election board, the sponsors of the recall shall have 60 days to file the recall petitions with the Tribal enrollment clerk.
(h) 
The Tribal enrollment clerk shall be the filing official for the election board on recall matters. Notice to the clerk shall be deemed to be notice to the election board. The clerk shall stamp each filing with the date and time of filing and furnish the person filing with a receipt.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
The election board shall retain blank forms of recall petitions for use by the voters of the Band.
(b) 
A person may print his own recall petitions if those petitions comply substantially with the form prescribed above.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
The petitions shall be signed by registered and qualified voters equal to not less than 25% of the number of votes cast for candidates for the Tribal Council at the last preceding general Tribal election.
(b) 
Upon written demand, the election board, within five days, shall certify the minimum number of signatures required for the recall of an official.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
A person circulating a petition shall be a qualified and registered voter and shall attach thereto his or her certificate stating that he or she is a qualified Tribal voter and shall state the city or the county wherein he or she resides and his or her post office address; further, that signatures appearing upon the petition were not obtained through fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation and that he or she has neither caused nor permitted a person to sign the petition more than once and has no knowledge of a person signing the petition more than once; that all signatures to the petition were affixed in his or her presence; and to his or her knowledge, information, and belief, the signers of the petition are qualified and registered voters and the signatures appearing thereon are the genuine signatures of the persons whom they purport to be.
(b) 
A person who knowingly makes a false statement in the certificate here required is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $100 and/or 90 days in jail.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
A petition sheet shall contain only the signatures of qualified and registered Tribal voters.
(b) 
A qualified and registered Tribal voter may sign the petition sheet in any location at which the petition sheet is available.
(c) 
A petition is not invalid if it contains the signature of a person who is not a qualified and registered Tribal voter.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
A circulated recall petition shall be filed with the clerk of the election board.
(b) 
The clerk shall give a receipt showing the date of filing, the number of petition sheets filed and the number of signatures claimed by the filer.
(c) 
This shall constitute the total filing and additional petition sheets for this filing shall not be accepted.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
Not later than the business day following the filing of a recall petition with the election board, the board shall notify in writing the official whose recall is sought, that the recall petition(s) has been filed. Copies of the petitions shall be made available to the official who is the subject of the petition and to Tribal members.
(b) 
An official whose recall is sought may challenge the validity of a signature or the registration of a voter whose name appears upon a recall petition. A challenge shall be in writing, specifying the challenged signature, and shall be delivered to the election board within five days after the filing of the petitions.
(c) 
A challenged signature shall be compared with the signature on the original registration record.
(d) 
Disputes over the validity of signatures and sufficiency of the petitions shall be decided by the election board whose decision shall be final and conclusive.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
The reason for demanding the recall of the official as set forth in the petition shall be printed on the recall ballot used at the election in not more than 200 words.
(1) 
The statement of reasons set forth in the petition shall contain more than 200 words, then the statement shall be condensed by the sponsor of the petition for use on the ballot.
(2) 
If the sponsor fails to furnish the condensed statement within 48 hours following written demand, then the statement shall be condensed by the election board.
(b) 
The election board, in preparing the ballot, shall provide in writing to the official whose recall is sought the statement of reason which shall appear on the ballot.
(1) 
The official whose recall is sought, in not more than 200 words, may submit a justification of conduct in office.
(2) 
The justification shall be submitted to the election board within 72 hours after receipt of the notification.
(3) 
If submitted in the prescribed time, the justification shall be printed on the ballot.
(c) 
The statement "Vote no on the recall" or "Vote yes on the recall" or words of similar import shall not be permitted on the ballot. A part of the reason for demanding the recall of the official or the official's justification of conduct in office shall not be emphasized by italics, underscoring, or in any other manner.
(d) 
There shall be printed on the recall ballot the following question: Shall (Name the person against whom the recall petition is filed) be recalled from the office of (title of the office)?
(1) 
Printed below the question in separate lines in easily legible type shall be the words "Yes _____" and "No _____".
(2) 
The procedure governing the election on the question of the recall of an official shall be the same, so far as possible and unless otherwise provided in this act, as that by which the official is elected to office.
(3) 
The election board shall give public notice, cause the ballots to be printed, provide election supplies and do all things necessary to conduct the election in the manner provided in this act.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
The election board shall conduct the canvass of the recall election.
(b) 
If the election board determines that a majority of the votes are in favor of recall, the board shall immediately certify the results.
(c) 
Upon certification, the office is vacant.
(d) 
The election board shall immediately inform the official who was recalled of the results and date and time of certification.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
After filing such recall petition and after such special election, no further recall petition shall be filed against the same incumbent of such office during the term for which he or she is elected unless such further petitioners shall first pay into the Tribal treasury the whole amount of election expenses for the preceding special election held for the recall of said incumbent.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
Upon the filing of the certificate of the election board showing the recall of the official as herein provided, the office of any recalled Tribal Council member shall automatically be deemed to be vacant.
(b) 
A vacancy in the office of Tribal Chairperson shall be filled by a special election for the balance of the unexpired term.
(c) 
Any other vacancies in the Tribal Council shall be filled until the next regularly-scheduled election of Tribal Council members in the following manner:
(1) 
The first three vacancies occurring between regularly-scheduled elections of Tribal Council members shall be filled by Tribal Council appointment.
(2) 
Further vacancies occurring between regularly-scheduled elections of Tribal Council members shall be filled by a special election only; and
(3) 
The filling of vacancies and the terms of service of those who fill vacancies shall maintain the integrity of the staggered election process mandated by the GTB Tribal Constitution.
(d) 
Any Tribal Council member who is serving office by appointment shall only serve until the next regularly-scheduled election for Tribal Council members.
(e) 
Any Tribal Council member taking office under this provision shall be deemed to be subject to all provisions of the GTB Tribal Constitution and to Tribal ordinances and resolutions generally applicable to elected officials and to their particular office.
(f) 
Any special election required to be held under the Recall Ordinance shall be conducted in accordance with applicable provisions of the GTB Constitution and with any applicable Tribal ordinance. If a regular election is scheduled to be held within the time permitted to hold a special election, all issues shall be submitted to a vote at the regular election.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
If the recall was successful, the election board shall within five days of certification schedule a special election.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
(a) 
An official who was recalled shall not be a candidate to fill the vacancy created by the recall nor be appointed to fill a vacancy during the term of office from which the official was recalled.
(b) 
An official who has resigned subsequent to the filing of a recall petition shall not be appointed to fill a vacancy in elected office during the term of the office from which the official resigned.
(c) 
If an official resigns subsequent to the filing of petitions to recall that official from office, it shall not be necessary for the election board to proceed further.
(d) 
If an official whose recall is sought resigns after the calling of a recall election, the election shall not be held.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
The candidate receiving the highest number of votes for the vacancy created on such recall should be considered duly elected for the remainder of the term.
[History: Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance, adopted by motion by Tribal Council on April 21, 1992.]
This act shall become effective April 21, 1992.