Candidate cries foul over tribal election tally
MASHPEE — Richard Oakley, who secured 23 votes in a three-way race for chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council, is challenging the election results in tribal court, Woods Hole attorney Jonathan Polloni said.
In his complaint, Polloni said, Oakley alleges election fraud and bases his complaint on the number of family members alone who he believes voted for him in Sunday's election. Oakley received 3 percent of the total vote.
Cedric Cromwell was re-elected overwhelmingly with 63 percent of the vote and a third candidate, David Pocknett, received 34 percent of the vote.
"I just feel I got more than 23 votes," Oakley said Wednesday. "I'm not saying I have enough votes to win, but something just isn't right."
Cromwell had no comment on Oakley's complaint.
The tribal court has acknowledged receipt of the complaint but has not yet scheduled a hearing, Polloni said.
Oakley also has asked the tribe's Election Commission for a recount, Polloni said.
The commission confirmed Wednesday night it had received Oakley's request. According to tribe spokeswoman Brooke Scannell, the commission "will conduct the recount within the prescribed time in accordance with tribal law."
The recount must be completed by March 10.
Paul Mills, who is part of a group that sued in federal court over the 2009 election, said Oakley's vote total doesn't match what people are saying.
"The 23 votes is totally out of proportion," Mills said. "That number does not jibe with anything that we know."
Mills and others had sought to have observers present at the vote count but were rebuffed. "It's just too suspicious," he said.
Pocknett said he doesn't question the outcome of the vote but said it would have been tougher to raise issues if one of Cromwell's relatives, Kimberly Frye, was not on the election commission.
"His sister-in-law should have recused herself," he said. "It would have looked better and quelled people's concerns."
Two of Cromwell's confidants — Vice Chairman Aaron Tobey and Treasurer Mark Harding — were defeated in the election. Pocknett acknowledged that the defeat of Tobey and Harding makes it difficult to believe there was any tampering.
Pocknett is upset about a plan to keep Tobey and Harding involved in tribal business during a transition period. The tribal council was expected to consider Wednesday night whether Tobey, who has been actively involved in negotiations on a compact with Gov. Deval Patrick, could continue in that role.
"If they wanted a transition period, that should have been taken care of before the election," Pocknett said. Cromwell should be able to carry on negotiations, he said. "You have to respect what the people said at the polls."
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