---
kind: "section"
citation: "25 C.F.R. § 81.57"
title: "25"
number: "81.57"
heading: "How do I determine how many signatures are needed for a petition to be valid?"
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/25/81.57"
---

# §81.57. How do I determine how many signatures are needed for a petition to be valid?

- (a) For a tribe whose governing document or charter of incorporation provides for petitioning the Secretary to call a Secretarial election:
  - (1) The spokesperson for the petitioners may ask the tribe or the Local Bureau Official how many signatures are required.
  - (2) **The Local Bureau Official will—**
    - (i) Contact the tribal governing body to obtain the current number of tribal members, 18 years of age or older, to determine the number of tribal members who must sign a petition as required by the tribe's governing document; and
    - (ii) Notify the petitioners' spokesperson how many signatures are required and that the number is valid for 180 days from the date of this notification.
- (b) For a federally recognized tribe adopting a governing document under Federal statute for the first time, the petition must have signatures of 50 percent of the tribal members who are 18 years of age or older.

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: : 25 U.S.C. 473a, 476, 477, as amended, and 503.

### Source

Source: 80 FR 63106, Oct. 19, 2015, unless otherwise noted.