Thousands Of Early Votes Cast In Navajo Election That May Be Canceled

By Laurel Morales
October 30, 2014
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Laurel Morales
At a recent parade in Tuba City many people held signs for Chris Deschene that said, "honor our voice."

More than 9,000 early ballots have been cast in an election that may be canceled. The Navajo Nation still doesn’t know what will happen with those ballots.

On Tuesday the Navajo president vetoed a bill that would have let voters decide if a presidential candidate was proficient in the language.

The Navajo Supreme Court ordered Chris Deschene off the ballot over a fluency requirement. The high court ruled that the election should be postponed and new ballots should be printed with the third-place finisher.

The Board of Election Supervisors has not complied with the ruling saying in a statement they have a responsibility to ensure the process is done in “a fair, impartial manner free of corruption, intimidation and fraud.”

On Friday the presidential contender who filed the original complaint against Deschene is taking the election board to court, where they could face jail time.