By Daniel Lapham/Staff Writers The battle is still raging between the executive and legislative branches of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. The C&A Election Board will hold a special election from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday to decide whether to recall C&A Gov. Darrell Flyingman. According to a public notice dated May 22, the ballots were mailed on May 25. The special election is a result of a petition submitted to the commission by the Tribal Council, said Tonita Little Raven, C&A Election Commission secretary. According to the tribal constitution and commission rules, in order to hold a recall election, a petition must be submitted to the commission with at least 1,636 signatures. The council’s petition re-ceived 1,781 verified signatures, Little Raven said. Flyingman maintains that the C&A Legislature and Tribal Council Rep. David Bearshield are breaking tribal laws by attempting to put pressure on the election commission and paying for signatures on the recall petition. “I have filed a restraining order (in district court) against the Election Commission because of the illegal election that is taking place,” Flyingman said. Flyingman said the signatures on the recall petition were not verified and that the appropriate amount of time to send out the ballots and hold the election was not met. “They were supposed to give voters up to 30 days to correct their addresses and 21 days to receive, make a decision and return their ballots. They did not do any of this,” Flyingman said. The commission has done nothing illegal, Little Raven said. “The Election Commission’s job is to run a fair and impartial election and we are doing that,” she said. The rules Flyingman referred to in his petition to the court were the rules pertaining to a general election, Little Raven said. She said the rules for a recall election are still rough and are not the same as general election rules. “There are not any detailed or well-defined rules for a referendum recall,” she said. “We are to be politically neutral in this situation. We are employed by the tribal council. So they are the ones that tell us what to do. They gave us the petition, so they fulfilled their part and now we are doing ours.” Both sides in the issue have said they are certain that the tribe will speak in their favor. Bearshield said he hopes the result of the election will signal the end of a longrunning struggle within the tribe’s branches of government. “After this goes through, I think things will run much more smoothly,” Bearshield said. “I think this is going to be a powerful step forward for the tribes. Our tribe has been fighting for years and that man (Flyingman) has been the worst dictator the tribes has ever seen.” Flyingman responded to accusations, saying that several legislative members are under investigation by law enforcement agencies. “I am confident this will wash out,” he said. “On top of the investigations there are four legislative seats that are open for re-election. Plus, all eight seats in the Election Commission are up for re-election.” The vote for the legislative and Election Commission positions will be held in August and the new officials will take office Jan. 1, Flyingman said. Regardless what happens in August, Flyingman said he is still confident in his status as governor of the C&A Tribes. “I think it will be very difficult for them to pull it off,” he said. “There are a lot of people that are upset at how this recall election is being handled.” The recall election will be held in El Reno, Kingfisher, Watonga, Canton, Geary, Seiling, Thomas, Weather-ford, Clinton, Elk City and Hammon. If Flyingman is removed as governor, current Lt. Gov. Harvey Monatachi will act as governor until June 2009.