September 22, 2026
Northern Cheyenne Election Update
Newer notices posted by the Northern Cheyenne Tribe state that no primary election will be held for open Tribal Council seats in Ashland, Busby, and Lame Deer. Those races will move directly to the November 3 general election, and the notices say write-in voting will be permitted.
The newer notices differ from an earlier notice that scheduled an October 1 primary and listed different candidate lineups in several districts. Truth in Focus is seeking clarification about what changed between the earlier and newer notices and will not speculate about the reason until that information is confirmed.
The Tribe’s election ordinance provides that a primary is not required when the number of qualified candidates is no more than twice the number of open seats in a district.
Source:
Northern Cheyenne Tribal Election Ordinance
What We’re Following
- Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council election procedures, candidate-list changes, and any September 23 election-related activity that still needs clarification.
- Ashland water-quality and public-record follow-up.
- Northern Cheyenne program, enterprise, and public-fund accountability reporting.
- Eastern Montana education and teacher-pipeline issues.
- Community resources, including Generation of Hope and other local assistance efforts.
A Note from Truth in Focus
Truth in Focus is still small and local. Our “staff” is mostly one person right now — me — and we are actively building a better newsroom and workflow system so stories, updates, follow-ups, records, and corrections can move more quickly and be easier to find.
We are also preparing a final round of website and publishing updates designed to streamline the site and make local reporting, investigations, opinion, community resources, and daily updates easier to navigate.
In the meantime, the website is live and working, and we encourage readers to use it as the main home for Truth in Focus:
Some stories take longer because we would rather say “we are still checking” than publish something we do not understand or cannot verify. That is especially true tonight with parts of the Northern Cheyenne election process. We have questions, we are seeking answers, and we will update readers when the facts are clear.
Thank you for reading, sharing tips, and helping a small local publication grow.
Steven Bullcoming Haworth
Founder / Publisher
Truth in Focus
truthfocus.net