Social distancing and mask wearing were required at polling places as well due to an executive order issued by Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.[1] Term limited Retiring Nine of the seventeen seats on the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council had elections in 2021.

[8] In May 2021, a campaign volunteer for Bobby Slover in District 2, Lisa Dawn Cookson, was arrested and charged with election fraud for filling out and signing absentee ballot request forms without the consent of voters.

[13] On July 21, 2021, the Cherokee Nation Attorney General's office charged losing candidate Bobby Slover with "unlawfully and knowingly" accepting a $1,000 donation from the corporation Action Floors LLC.

Cherokee Nation election law states that donations may only be made by "individual natural persons".

Mayes argued that the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court's striking of "by blood" requirements for office should "void" the election.

[18][19] On August 8, 2021, the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court rejected a complaint alleging voter fraud in District 7 as "frivolous and dismissed with prejudice for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.