Voters have given Tammy Cook-Searson a sixth term as chief of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band.
She was first elected in 2005.
Cook-Searson earned nearly 40 per cent of the vote to edge out rivals Jude Ratt, Eugene Mirasty, Thomas McKenzie, Fredrick McKenzie and Natalie Aldridge, according to a post on the band’s website.
Voting ran from May 12 to 25.
In a social media post, Cook-Searson thanked voters for their continued prayers and support.
The long-serving politician represented the federal Liberals in the 2019 election. She finished third behind NDP incumbent Georgina Jolibois and Conservative Gary Vidal, who turned the orange seat blue.
Elsewhere on the ballot, nine of 12 councillors were re-elected: Keith Mirasty for Little Red River Reserve, Gerald McKenzie for Grandmother’s Bay Reserve, Norman Ross for the Morin Lake Reserve, Linda Charles and John Roberts in Stanley Mission and Michael Bird, Anna Ratt, Sam Roberts and Dennis Sanderson for the Lac La Ronge and Kitsaki Reserves.
New councillors are John Halkett in Little Red River, Devin Bernatchez in Sucker River and Jimmy Charles in Stanley Mission.
The election was one of the first to take place during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saskatchewan. Band members were able to cast their ballot online from May 12 to 25 or head to a polling station where computers were made available.
Polling stations across the north were only open for in-person voting on May 26. Several safety precautions were in place, such as limiting the number of people in the stations at a time.
Chief and councillors were elected for three-year terms expiring March 31, 2023.
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