CTWS March 15, 2019 REFERENDUM

The 1980 Baseline Referendum is on Friday, March 15th. Voting will take place from 8am to 8pm on that date at the Community Center. Absentee ballots have been mailed out. Any tribal member voter who lives off of the Warm Springs Reservation and did not receive their ballot should contact the Warm Springs Vital Statistics office.

Automatic enrollment and enrollment by adoptions are two different processes that take place for a person to become a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. This 1980 Baseline Referendum on March 15th will focus solely on the process for determining blood quantum for the purpose of automatic enrollment. It is NOT an adoption election.

Warm Springs Enrollment Ordinance 94 outlines the requirements for automatic enrollment and adoption. Currently, an individual is eligible for automatic enrollment if they have at least 1/4 of Confederated Tribes blood – Warm Springs, Wasco, or Paiute. A Resolution from 2008 also allows individuals to also consider blood quantum from neighboring Tribes based upon valid traditional kinship and ancestral ties that can be documented and confirmed as traceable to legitimate treaty and pre-treaty family affiliation connected to the Warm Springs, Wasco, and/or Paiute. Individuals who do not meet the automatic 1/4 blood quantum requirement may get enrolled through the adoption process. Adoption Referendums in recent years have failed due to lack of voter participation.

Voting is an opportunity and a responsibility to make a difference in our communities, lives, and our future. Many people do not vote thinking one vote will not make a change, but as a matter of fact, it has, and it does. Your vote is your voice.  Please participate in the Referendum Vote on March 15, 2019 at the Warm Springs Community Center.