The flag of the Seneca Nation. Photo by JeromeG111
Voters were paid to cast ballots for the party that swept the Seneca Nation election on Tuesday, The Buffalo News reports. Candidates from the Seneca Party won all 30 positions, including those for president and treasurer. One tribal citizen told the paper that she and her family members were paid for their votes, a practice that's entirely legal on the New York reservation. “They gave my two relatives $20 each, not $100. They told them that they spent too much time with the ballot, and that they would have got $100 if they voted straight ticket,” the citizen was quoted as saying. According to the paper, poll watchers were able to tell if someone voted for the entire Seneca Party ticket because doing so only took a short time in the ballot booth. Candidates from the rival One Nation party and independents, on the other hand, weren't given a "straight ticket" option. “As long as you have a party that is going to pay people $100 for a vote, they are going to keep winning,” Sally Snow, who ran as an independent, told the paper. “I refused to pay for votes. I do not want to become the first woman president in the history of the Seneca Nation by paying people for their votes.” J.C. Seneca, who ran for president as a representative of the One Nation Party, filed a complaint after he lost the vote. But he told the paper his challenge was rejected by the tribe's election board, which is controlled by the Seneca Party. Todd Gates won election as president and Maurice John won the treasurer's slot. The Seneca Party would not confirm or deny whether it paid for votes, the paper reported. Read More on the Story:
"Straight ticket," vote-buying aided Seneca Party election sweep (The Buffalo News 11/6)
Gates wins SNI presidency in Seneca Party sweep (The Salamanca Press 11/3)
Seneca Party sweeps Nation elections (WBFO 11/2)
Gates Elected Seneca Nation President (WGRZ 11/2)
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