Enrollment Eligibility to be Voted on at General Council

At the Spring 2024 General Council meeting, on Saturday, March 30, a proposed Constitutional amendment regarding Enrollment Eligibility is on the agenda for a ballot vote. The vote is whether to send the proposed amendment to the membership for an election vote. This is the second step in a three-step process required to amend the Tribal Constitution.

Over the last five years, the Enrollment Eligibility Committee (EEC) was tasked with developing a variety of options to change the Tribe’s criteria for enrollment eligibility. This process included working with legal counsel, a study by demographic consultants, and periodic meetings with Tribal Council. Ultimately, the EEC participated in six PGST community meetings to explain the concepts under consideration, and to consider feedback, and concerns from PGST members.

After considering several options recommended by the EEC, data, and the feedback from the PGST community, the Tribal Council voted to move forward with one of the recommended options: a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would change the geographic area for automatic enrollment.

In October 2023, during the Fall General Council meeting, the proposed amendment was presented to the General Council for discussion only, it did not require any formal action, and was the first step in the Constitutional amendment process.

At the March 30, 2024 General Council meeting, the proposed amendment will be presented a second time, this time for a formal vote by written ballot. If a quorum is present, General Council will vote whether to move the amendment on to an election vote of the membership. If a majority of those present votes ‘yes’, the process will move to the third step: an election to determine whether the proposed amendment should be added to the Constitution. If the majority of those present votes ‘no’, the amendment is defeated, the process ends, and there will be no change to Tribe’s enrollment eligibility criteria.

As a quorum is required for a vote, it is imperative that any PGST member who can, attends the General Council meeting on March 30. This issue impacts future generations of Port Gamble S’Klallam by potentially changing the criteria for determining who is eligible for enrollment.