Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn. Photo from Bureau of Indian Affairs

The Bureau of Indian Affairs will be holding consultation sessions on a new regulation that affects Secretarial elections.

Three consultations have been scheduled so far. They will take place October 26 in Atlanta, Georgia; November 18 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and November 20 in Rocklin, California.

The changes have been in the works for several years. The Obama administration held consultations in 2009 and 2010 on a draft rule and the proposed rule was published in the Federal Register earlier this month.

"A Secretarial election is a Federal election conducted by the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) under a Federal statute or tribal governing document," the October 9 notice states.

According to the notice, the BIA hasn't updated its Secretarial election regulations since 1981.

Federal Register Notices:
Secretarial Election Procedures (October 20, 2014)
Secretarial Election Procedures (October 9, 2014)