Three more are setting sights on Lumbee Tribal Council seat

Aug. 25—PEMBROKE — Three more people filed this week for candidacy in the Lumbee Tribal Council's 2023 election set for Nov. 14.

Deana Locklear Marcinsky filed Wednesday and is seeking election onto the District 2 seat, currently held by Lumbee Tribal Council Speaker Sharon Hunt. The district encompasses Back Swamp, Fairmont 1 and 2 and Smyrna.

Marcinsky did not submit biographical information.

Tammie Chavis Jump filed Thursday for seat 3 on the council. The district represents West Howellsville and Lumberton. The seat is currently occupied by Harold Smith, who has not yet filed.

Jump is a "proud Senior citizen and a storyteller of Lumbee Tribe," according to biographical information submitted to the Laurinburg Exchange.

A native of Pembroke, Jump currently resides in Lumberton, where she mothers, three daughters an is grandmother to three grandchildren. Jump has been an independent life/annuity agent in North and South Carolina for 20 years. She is a member of the Remnant Church, a volunteer for tribe COVID-19 testing, and a voice for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement.

"I would consider it a great honor, if elected to serve my people with integrity, hard work and transparency," Hunt stated.

Also filing this week was incumbent Carrington Ray Locklear, who is seeking reelection to District 5 on the council. District 5 encompasses Oxendine and Prospect communities.

Locklear did not submit biographical information.

Seats representing districts 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11 as well as 12, which covers Scotland County, Maxton and Alfordsville, are up for reelection. Incumbents for these seats are Sharon Hunt, District 2; Harold Smith, District 3; Carrington Locklear, District 5; Carrington Ray Locklear, District 9; Rudy T. Locklear, District 7; Chocajuana Oxendine, District 11; and Annie Taylor, District 12.

As mandated in the Lumbee Tribal Constitution, those eligible to file are required to be active tribal members, reside in the district for at least one year, must be at least 21 years of age and must not have any felony convictions.

The filing fee is $250 and must be done at the Lumbee Tribal Elections Board new located at 171 Commerce Drive, Suite B, Pembroke.

The filing period will remain open until Sept. 1 at 5 p.m. The election will be held from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14.

Other key dates:

— First day to request an absentee ballot: Sept. 11

— Meet the candidates: Sept. 18

— Last day to request absentee ballot: Oct. 13

— Deadline for absentee ballots to be returned/received: Nov. 13

— Enrollment closes books: Oct. 13

— Signatures verified for absentee ballots: Nov. 13

— Absentee ballots counted: Nov. 14

Tomeka Sinclair is the editor of the Laurinburg Exchange. She can be reached at tsinclair@laurinburgexchange.com.