Poll: Most voters don’t view McGirt as most pressing issue
Most Oklahoma voters disagree with Gov. Kevin Stitt that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming the Muscogee (Creek) reservation is the most pressing issue in the state, according to a new poll that also measures sentiment about refugees from Afghanistan resettling in Oklahoma.
Only 23% of registered voters said they agreed with Stitt’s claim that the impact of the McGirt v Oklahoma case is the most pressing issue, while 63% said other issues were a priority and 13% said they didn’t know or declined
to answer.
Republican voters were slightly more inclined to side with the governor, as 29% said they agreed the McGirt decision was the most pressing issue facing the state, but 54% disagreed. Only 17% of Democrats and 17% of independents agreed with the Republican governor about the issue.
The poll was taken by Oklahoma City’s Amber Integrated, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3 and included a pool of 500 registered voters, with the results weighted by various factors, including party registration. The survey has a margin of error of 4.38% at a 95% confidence interval.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in July 2020 that the Muscogee (Creek) reservation was never officially disestablished by Congress and still exists for the purpose of criminal jurisdiction. The decision overturned the state convictions of child rapist Jimcy McGirt, a Native American whose crimes were committed on the reservation, since federal law requires crimes involving Indians in Indian country to be prosecuted in federal or tribal courts.
The McGirt decision was extended by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals this year to the other members of the Five Tribes: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole nations. The reservations include nearly half the state’s population and most counties in eastern Oklahoma, along with some in central Oklahoma.
The decision upended the criminal justice system in operation since statehood in 1907 under which state district attorneys prosecuted most crimes involving Native Americans unless they occurred on land taken into trust for a tribe by the U.S. government.
Scores of convictions have been reversed in the wake of the decision. U.S. attorneys and tribal prosecutors filed their own charges against many of those released from state custody, but many crimes could not be reprosecuted because of legal time limits.
The decision also has implications for the state’s taxing and regulatory powers over Native Americans within the reservations.
The state is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse itself. In written arguments to the justices, Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor stated that no recent Supreme Court decision “has had a more immediate and destabilizing effect on life in an American State than McGirt v. Oklahoma.”
Stitt, who called the decision the most pressing issue in Oklahoma in his state-of-the-state address and in other speeches, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal last month saying, “In our opinion, this is the biggest issue that’s ever hit any state since the Civil War.”
Tribal leaders respond to poll results
Pollster Jackson Lisle, a partner in Amber Integrated, said the responses to the question “reflect the idea that most people don’t identify the McGirt Supreme Court decision as the state’s No. 1 policy priority.
“Many Oklahoma voters may be unaware of that decision or its implications. However, insofar as McGirt might impact the economy, or law and order, or other priority issues, it may come to be very important to Oklahomans either directly or indirectly.”
According to a news release from Amber Integrated on Friday, “20% of all voters now view COVID as a priority, second only to ‘jobs and the economy’ at 26%.”
Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby said Friday, “Despite an effort to exaggerate the results of this Supreme Court ruling, a large majority of Oklahomans see other issues as more important to the future of the state.
“This helps confirm our belief that most Oklahomans have seen very little change in their daily life as a result of this ruling. Tribes are getting the job done when it comes to public safety and criminal justice. We have established many good partnerships with many across the state to the benefit of all Oklahomans. We plan to continue working to meet our expanded criminal justice duties in a responsible manner.”
Chickasaw and Cherokee leaders said Friday that the Five Tribes collectively have filed 6,965 cases in their courts since the McGirt decision. U.S. attorney offices, the FBI and federal courts also have beefed up to handle the surge in cases.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said, “Gov. Stitt’s hysterics over McGirt are based on an image of chaos that he is peddling but which Oklahomans do not see, and which does not in fact exist. Tribes have calmly focused on seizing opportunities and have a proven commitment to public safety and protecting all citizens within our reservations and Oklahoma. … Oklahomans know tribes are trusted partners and aren’t buying the governor’s attacks on sovereignty.”
Carly Atchison, a spokesperson for Stitt, said, “McGirt is the biggest issue that’s ever hit any state since the Civil War. The Supreme Court’s ruling stripped Oklahoma of one of the most basic functions of a state, which is the ability to enforce the rule of law, and therefore threatens Oklahoma’s ability to exist. This is not an issue of tribes versus Kevin Stitt, it is an issue of fundamental sovereignty of a state in the United States of America.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, has introduced legislation that would allow the Chickasaws and Cherokees to negotiate compacts with the state regarding criminal jurisdiction. Tribal and state officials have said compacts could be a solution to other questions that arise from the McGirt decision, including taxation of Native Americans.
Majority of Oklahomans polled welcome refugees
The latest Amber Integrated poll also measured Oklahoma voters’ opinions about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August and the resettling of refugees from that country in Oklahoma.
A slight majority of registered voters, 52%, said the United States should not have removed all troops from Afghanistan. Only 24% of Republicans said all troops should have been removed, while 61% of Democrats and 46% of independents said all troops should have been removed.
More than 100,000 refugees from Afghanistan are expected to be resettled in the United States, with an estimated 1,800 expected in Oklahoma.
According to the Amber Integrated poll, 57% of registered Oklahoma voters surveyed said the refugees should be welcomed to the state.
Stitt and members of Oklahoma’s allRepublican congressional delegation have supported the relocation of the refugees. However, only 39% of Republican voters in the poll said the refugees should be welcomed in Oklahoma, while 54% of Republicans said they did not think the refugees should be welcomed.
By contrast, 77% of Democrats and 69% of independents said the refugees should be welcomed in Oklahoma; 14% of Democrats and 24% of independents said they should not.
According to the poll, 58% of men and 55% of women said the refugees should be welcomed. Half or more of all age groups said the refugees should be welcomed, except those voters 70 and over; in that group, 49% said the refugees should be welcomed.