25 CFR § 81.57 - How do I determine how many signatures are needed for a petition to be valid?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t25/s81.57"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "25 CFR § 81.57 - How do I determine how many signatures are needed for a petition to be valid?"
title_number: 25
title_name: "Indians"
section_number: "81.57"
section_name: "How do I determine how many signatures are needed for a petition to be valid?"
chapter_name: "BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR"
subchapter_number: "F"
subchapter_name: "TRIBAL GOVERNMENT"
part_number: "81"
part_name: "SECRETARIAL ELECTION PROCEDURES"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: ": 25 U.S.C. 473a, 476, 477, as amended, and 503."
regulatory_source: "80 FR 63106, Oct. 19, 2015, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "81"
---


# 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.