Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Election Law up for amendments

02/27/2023

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke’s Executive Office wishes to announce that its submission to amend the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke Election Law (‘the Law’) has been approved and will now enter the Community Decision Making & Review Process (CDMRP).

The reason for proposing the amendments is to address and identify the issues that were brought forward following the 2021 MCK general election. The goal is to ensure the management of the election process runs as efficiently and effectively as possible while ensuring the process is legally defensible.

Recommendations and suggestions were collected and submitted from groups of various individuals that have worked consistently with the MCK Election Law during the MCK Election process, such as former Electoral Officer Angus L. Montour. The experiences of personnel from the MCK Executive Office, the Office of the Kahnawà:ke Kanien’kehá:ka Registry, and Justice Services, MCK Information Management, and MCK Legal Services were also taken into consideration.

The proposed amendments can be viewed here. Information and Community Engagement sessions will be announced shortly, which will be followed by a meeting to determine whether a mandate will be given by the community to move forward with the amendments through the CDMRP.

The Law, which was originally passed in May of 1990, has gone through many changes over the years. It was most recently amended via the then-Community Decision Making Process in 2015 and 2018.