Members of the Little Shell Chippewa tribe are set to vote in a new council today, in an election marred by political infighting including the barring of several would-be candidates from the ballot.

Polling places will be set up in Billings, Browning, Butte, Great Falls, Havre and Helena. The estimated 4,500 Little Shell have no reservation and are spread through northern and central Montana.

The election had been delayed since Nov. 4, when the Tribal Council barred four candidates from running.

At least three more have since been barred, including two candidates who also were disenrolled from the tribe.

The Little Shell tribe is recognized by the state but has faced decades of delays from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs over its request for federal recognition.

Several of the rejected candidates were prior council members. One who was disenrolled is a former vice chairman for the Little Shell.

Critics accuse tribal President John Sinclair and other incumbents of manipulating the election to their advantage.

Operating through a splinter group called the Little Shell Chippewa Alliance, they plan to protest today's election.

"They're twisting the tribal constitution for their own political gain in terms of determining who can run against them and who can't," said Gerald Gray, a tribal member who was blocked from running for first vice chairman.

Five members of the Alliance filed a federal lawsuit this week asking a judge in Great Falls to issue an injunction blocking the election.

U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon on Friday denied the request.

Sinclair said he was trying to make the process fair but was forced to take action because he said Alliance members were confusing potential voters, in part by sending out mailings opposing the election.

"When you fight in a tribe like that it's basically family - and family fights are the worst," he said.

The tribe's executive director, Russell Boham, said disenrolled members had failed to pass required background checks.

That included an assessment of whether they had the proper ancestry.

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