PORT ANGELES — Lower Elwha Klallam tribal members will head to the election polls to vote for candidates for two tribal council seats Saturday.
The polls will be open from noon to 8 p.m. at the Lower Elwha Tribal Center, said Brenda Francis, tribal spokeswoman.
Tribal members nationwide are eligible to vote. Mail-in ballots were due by April 29.
Eight candidates are seeking the two seats, including the incumbents, Vice Chairman Russell N. Hepfer and Councilman Joseph A. Turrey.
The other six candidates are former Tribal Chairwoman Carla Elofson; tribal artist Linda Wiechman; Contract Health Services Director Lorinda Robideau; William Sanchez, who provides security at the Elwha River Casino and served as the tribal enrollment officer for several years; Rachel Sullivan, the granddaughter of former Chairman Dennis Sullivan; and Phil Charles Jr., former vice chairman, retired Marine and Bureau of Indian Affairs officer and skipper of the Lightning canoe.
The tribal chair is voted in by election every year. That election will be May 28.