a felony, or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or offenses against the Cherokee Nation committed while in office.
Article IX. Election
Section 1. There is hereby created a Cherokee Nation Election Commission. The Commission shall be an autonomous and permanent entity charged with the administration of all Cherokee Nation elections, in accordance with election laws. The Council shall enact an appropriate law not inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution that will govern the conduct of all elections.
Section 2. No person who shall have been convicted of a felony charge under the laws of United States, or of any State, Territory, or Possession thereof, or a crime under the laws of the Cherokee Nation that if committed in some other jurisdiction would be a felony, shall be eligible to hold any office or appointment of honor, profit or trust within this Nation unless such person has received a pardon from the appropriate jurisdiction. Any person who holds any office of honor, profit or trust in any other tribe or Nation of American Indians, either elective or appointive shall be ineligible to hold simultaneously any office of honor, profit or trust of the Cherokee Nation unless approved by the Council.
Section 3. All elections shall be determined by secret balloting.
Article X. Fiscal
Section 1. The fiscal year shall commence on the first day of October in each year, unless otherwise provided by law.
Section 2. The Council shall provide by law for annual expenditure of funds, and the source from which funds are to be derived, to defray the estimated expenses of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches and the departments of government of the Cherokee Nation for each fiscal year. The budget shall not exceed estimated revenues.
Section 3. At least forty-five (45) days prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, the Treasurer shall cause to be made and presented to the Council an itemized estimate of revenues and expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year adhering to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
Section 4. The Council shall require that records be maintained and provided to the Council of all funds, monies, accounts and indebtedness and all other accounts bearing upon the fiscal interests, including but not limited to, any and all outside business interests, both for-profit and not-for-profit, of the Cherokee Nation by the use of an accounting system adhering to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The annual financial statement shall be audited by a Certified Public Accountant and presented to the Council within six months following the end of each fiscal year. Unaudited reports will be submitted as required by the Council.
Section 5. The Treasurer shall be authorized to accept all grants, donations of money, interest of funds of the Cherokee Nation, judgments and any and all other sources of monies available to the Cherokee Nation, for uses and purposes and upon the conditions and limitations for which the same
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