Statement Regarding Preparation and Provision of the Osage Minerals Council Voter List
The Bureau of Indian Affairs understands that questions have been raised regarding the voter list provided to the Osage Minerals Council for the 2026 election and would like to clarify the facts regarding its role and the information provided.
Under the regulations in 25 C.F.R. Part 90, Elections of Osage Minerals Council, the BIA’s role is limited to: (1) compiling a list of eligible voters upon the Chair’s request that contains the name and address of each voter; and (2) for purposes of calculating votes, providing the election designee with a separate list containing the name, address, and headright interest of each voter. The BIA received a request from the Osage Minerals Council’s original election designee for the list containing the names and addresses of eligible voters on March 2, 2026, and provided the list on March 9, 2026.
The BIA received a request from the Osage Minerals Council’s replacement election designee for the list containing headright interests for eligible voters on April 28, 2026, and provided the list on April 30, 2026. The interval between the request and transmission of the list was due to the BIA awaiting confirmation from the election designee that adequate confidentiality measures were in place to safeguard headright holders’ personally identifiable information, as the BIA’s disclosure of such information is subject to federal law.
The BIA produced the eligible voter list from the Trust Asset and Accounting Management System, which is the Privacy Act system of record used to maintain headright ownership information The BIA did not amend the voter names or addresses, nor did it edit, round, or otherwise modify the headright shares before providing the list to the election designee. Accordingly, the list reflected the complete decimal values for headright interests as they exist in the BIA’s official electronic system.
The BIA is committed to administering its responsibilities under 25 C.F.R. Part 90 in an accurate and impartial manner while protecting the privacy of headright holders. Its responsibilities, however, are limited to providing the voter lists described above. The BIA has no jurisdiction over, or involvement in, the promulgation of election regulations, selection of the election designee, distribution or collection of ballots, tabulation of votes, certification of the election results, or consideration of challenges to election results.
