Redistricting plans approved by the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council have been vetoed by Principal Chief Chad Smith.

There are nine districts in the Cherokee Nation’s 14-county jurisdictional boundaries, seven of which have two representatives. The other two have one representative each. The legislation vetoed by Smith would have established 15 districts, with one council representative each.

The Council passed the proposal 15-2 over Smith’s objections.

Councilwoman Cara Cowan Watts said she supported redistricting.

“This is not anything new,” Watts said. “I am excited about this redistricting plan. Rogers County would have three more invested partners on the Council to make sure Rogers County is adequately supported by the Cherokee Nation.

“Is it ideal? No. But it is better than what we’ve got now,” Watts said. “It will ensure the Cherokee Nation is fully engaged in Rogers County.

In a release to the media earlier this month, Watts said Rogers County, which she represents, now has a larger number of Cherokee citizens than Adair and Mayes counties, which each have two representatives.

“No matter how you count it, there are more Cherokees in Rogers County than in Adair and Mayes County,” Watts said.

“In fact, many of the Cherokees living in Rogers County have moved from other Cherokee communities to take advantage of the greater economic opportunity near Tulsa. Our job at the Cherokee Nation is to bring jobs to our local communities. I am proud of the growth at the Cherokee Casino and Resort in Catoosa as well as Will Rogers Downs outside of Claremore.”

Watts said, many council members including Councilman Don Garvin of the District 4 (Three Rivers - Wagoner, Muskogee and McIntosh counties) feel council members should represent roughly the same number of Cherokee citizens.

“We are being shortchanged here in Rogers County,” Watts said.

In a Tulsa World report, Councilor Chuck Hoskin Jr. said he was optimistic that Smith’s veto would be overturned.

The tribe’s Constitution mandates that districts be redrawn every decade. The legislation uses readily identifiable boundaries, such as highways, county lines, bodies of water and other geographical features, to prevent voter confusion.

Councilor Jack Baker said citizenship information from the tribe’s registration office and work by the tribe’s Geo-Data Department were used to create a reasonably equal distribution of citizens in each district.

But in his veto message, Smith said the districts were not divided evenly. He accused the council of gerrymandering and considering where councilors would campaign as a factor in the redistricting.

By some of the council member’s own admission, the proposed districts have been drawn up with the interests of incumbent council members in mind, rather than the interests of the Cherokee people, Smith wrote.

Under the proposed map, and even with two councilors living within just a few miles of one another, no incumbent council member would have to face another incumbent council member, Smith said.

Noting that many of the proposed districts were oddly shaped and including quotes from councilors about re-election and keeping sitting members from running against each other, Smith wrote, “It appears some council members consider the districts to be their own personal property, to be redrawn to protect their own interests, rather than a district of Cherokee people whose interests they represent.”

To be truly equal districts, Smith said, all of the districts should contain about 7,162 citizens, but the number in the proposed districts often varies from that base figure by as much as 23 percent.

The legislation is not likely to sustain a court challenge, Smith said. Because the next council election isn’t until 2011, the council should take the time to redraw the districts and allow citizens to consider the plan, Smith wrote.

Hoskin said the redistricting would pit two councilors against each other in the next election.

“I think that’s the heart and soul of it (the accusation), that its gerrymandering,” he said. “If you look at our entire record of legislating, it doesn’t add up.”

Hoskin said Smith seized on a handful of statements by councilors and ignores the wide and deep legislative record amassed over months of deliberation.