Shirley may demand change on Dec. 15 ballot language

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The Navajo Times has learned that President Joe Shirley Jr. may challenge the ballot language chosen for a Dec. 15 special election on two council reform initiatives he is promoting.

The election would to let Navajo voters decide whether the tribal council should be reduced from 88 to 24 seats, and the tribal president should have line-item veto power over council spending measures.

The gist of Shirley's concern is that the ballot language adopted Oct. 22 by Navajo Board of Election Supervisors excludes mention that the line-time veto would be protected from override by the tribal council, said Michelle Dotson, legal counsel to the Office of the President and Vice President.

The initiative petitions specified that the council would not be able to override line-item vetoes, and Dotson said that point must be included on the ballot or the ballot will not accurately reflect the will of those who signed the petitions requesting that the proposed changes be put to a vote of the Navajo people.

As of noon today (Nov. 2), the Navajo Nation Office of Hearings and Appeals had not received a challenge to the ballot language, but Dotson stated in an Oct. 28 e-mail that one had been drafted and was under review by outside counsel.

Any challenge to the ballot language filed at this point would collide with the statutory deadline to release absentee ballots, likely requiring the election board to postpone the vote.

Edison Wauneka, Navajo Election Administration director, said Shirley has until 5 p.m. today (Nov. 2) to contest the ballot language.

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