Deal restores Freedmen citizenship

Developing:  Freedmen citizenship restored and voting extended to Oct. 8

By Will ChavezThe United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the Cherokee Nation and an attorney for the Cherokee Freedmen made a preliminary agreement Tuesday afternoon that will extend the tribe’s voting period for voters to Oct. 8.

The agreement also restored full citizenship to the approximately 2,800 removed from the CN last month. The voting extension will allow the Freedmen, as well as other CN citizens, more time to vote beyond the Sept. 24 principal chief election.

Freedmen attorneys filed an injunction on Sept. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to regain Freedmen rights, including voting rights. President of the Descendants of Freedmen Association Marilyn Vann, one of the plaintiffs in the injunction, said the Freedmen did not receive all of the remedies they had asked for, but she is pleased with the results.

“The settlement was not perfect. Everything we requested in the preliminary injunction was not addressed in the proposed agreement, but we are pleased that the dis-enrolled Freedmen will be restored to citizenship status with full citizenship rights including the right to vote for principal chief,” she said.Cherokee Nation negotiates deal with Freedmen

Comment:  For more on the Cherokee Freedmen, see NY Times Debate on Freedmen and US Threatens Cherokees Over Freedmen.