{"data":{"id":"us/25-cfr-81.4","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"25 CFR 81.4","heading":"What terms do I need to know?","body":"For purposes of this part:\nAbsentee ballot means a ballot the Secretarial Election Board provides to a registered voter, upon request, to allow him or her to vote by mail even though polling sites are used.\nAmendment means any modification or change to one or more provisions of an existing governing document or charter.\nApplicable law means any treaty, statute, Executive Order, regulation, or final decision of a Federal court, which is applicable to the tribe.\nAuthorizing Official means the Bureau official with delegated Federal authority to authorize a Secretarial election.\nBureau means the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior.\nBusiness day means a weekday (Monday through Friday), excluding Federal holidays.\nCast means the action of a registered voter, when the ballot is received through the mail by the Secretarial Election Board, or placed in the ballot box at the polling site.\nCharter means a charter of incorporation issued under a Federal statute and ratified by the governing body in accordance with tribal law or, if adopted before May 24, 1990, by a majority vote in an election conducted by the Secretary.\nDay means a calendar day. A Secretarial election may be held on a Saturday, Sunday or Federal holiday.\nDepartment means the Department of the Interior.\nDirector means the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs or his or her authorized representative.\nElectioneering means campaigning for or against the adoption, ratification, revocation or amendment of a proposed governing document or a charter.\nEligible voter means a tribal member who will be 18 years of age or older on the date of the Secretarial election (and, if the tribe's governing document imposes additional requirements for voting in a Secretarial election, also meets those requirements).\nEligible Voters List means a list of eligible voters, including their birthdates and their last known mailing addresses. The Eligible Voters List is compiled and certified by the tribe's governing body or the Bureau if the Bureau maintains the current membership roll for the tribe.\nFederal statute means the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), 25 U.S.C. 476, 477, as amended, the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act (OIWA), 25 U.S.C. 503, and any tribe-specific Federal statute that requires a Secretarial election for the adoption of a governing document.\nFinal agency action means the Authorizing Official's approval or disapproval of a Secretarial election or acknowledgment of the tribe's or petitioners' withdrawal of a request for Secretarial election, and is final for the Department.\nGoverning document means any written document that prescribes the extent, limitations, and manner in which the tribe exercises its sovereign powers.\nLocal Bureau office means the local administrative office of the Bureau that is the primary point of contact between the Bureau and the tribe.\nLocal Bureau Official means the Superintendent, Field Representative, or other official having delegated Federal administrative responsibility under this part.\nMailout ballot means a ballot the Secretarial Election Board provides to a registered voter to allow him or her to vote by mail in an election conducted entirely by mail.\nMember of a tribe or tribal member means any person who meets the criteria for membership in a tribe and, if required by the tribe, is formally enrolled.\nPetition means the official document submitted by the petitioners to the Secretary to call a Secretarial election for the purpose of adopting or ratifying a new governing document, amending the tribe's existing governing document, or revoking the tribe's existing governing document.\nPetitioner means a tribal member who is 18 years of age or older (and, if the tribe's governing document imposes additional requirements for petitioning, also meets those requirements), and signs a petition.\nPolling site ballot means the ballot the Secretarial Election Board provides to a registered voter, allowing him or her to vote when polling sites are required by the amendment and adoption article of the tribe's governing document.\nRecognized governing body means the tribe's governing body recognized by the Bureau for the purposes of government-to-government relations.\nRegistered Voter means an eligible voter who has registered to vote in the Secretarial election.\nRegistered Voters List means the list of all Registered Voters showing only names and, where applicable, voting districts.\nRegistration means the process by which an eligible voter signs up to vote in the Secretarial election.\nRevocation means that act whereby the registered voters of a tribe vote to revoke their current governing document.\nSecretarial election means a Federal election conducted by the Secretary under a Federal statute or tribal governing document under this part.\nSecretarial Election Board means the body of officials appointed by the Bureau and the tribe (and the spokesperson for petitioners, as applicable) to conduct the Secretarial election.\nSecretary means the Secretary of the Interior or his or her authorized representative.\nSpoiled ballot means the ballot is mismarked, mutilated, rendered impossible to determine the voter's intent, or marked so as to violate the secrecy of the ballot.\nSpokesperson for the petitioners or spokesperson means a tribal member who provides a document signed by other tribal members that provides him or her authority to speak or submit a petition on their behalf.\nTribal request means a request that includes all of the components set out in 81.6.\nTribe means any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village or community that is listed in the Federal Register under 25 U.S.C. 479a—1(a), as recognized and receiving services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.\nVoting district means a geographic area established to facilitate the voting process, if required, by the amendment and adoption articles of the tribe's governing document.","path":["Title 25—Indians","CHAPTER I—BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR","SUBCHAPTER F—TRIBAL GOVERNMENT","PART 81—SECRETARIAL ELECTION PROCEDURES","Subpart B—Definitions"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-25.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:24:59Z","sha256":"8515f0ab547ad2d077dcf07bf118630f7a57aa18d8a0cbf30e6d6ebcae428fc3","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/25-cfr-81.3","next":"us/25-cfr-81.5"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}