Christopher Deschene, who has represented the Navajo Nation in the past as an AZ state rep , and who was the statewide Democratic candidate for Secretary of State in 2010, has been running for the office of president of the Navajo Nation. Deschene prevailed in an earlier primary with the second highest number of votes and has been facing Joe Shirley Jr, who served as NN president from 2003-2011 , in the runoff. Late last week, only a few weeks from Nov. 4 election, Deschene was disqualified as a candidate by the Navajo Office of Hearings and Appeals in Window Rock, Ariz, because he refused to submit to a Navajo language test at the official hearing, held on October 6.
more below the fold..
Deschene claims the test has never been given to a candidate before, that no other current and running NN officers have taken the test and not all of them are fluent in the Navajo language either, i.e. that this is and was a set up. Deschene does speak Navajo and is learning to improve his command of the language. The contention centers on what is considered 'fluent'. Deschene has lived both on and off Navajo Tribal lands and is an exceptionally good candidate who has rallied and energized voters in the NN, especially the young. Many agree that the language is treasured, but that this is being used as a wedge issue against the younger (age 43) candidate Deschene , who did not learn the language as a child, and who's mother was forbidden to speak the language, as many were in times past .
You can inform yourself on the situation and the candidates easily by searching. The hearing and decision to disqualify Deschene came down last week. He is appealing the decision and so far, remains on the ballot. He is encouraging his NN supporters to exercise their right to vote and let their voices be heard.
Rather than discuss the candidates I thought I would share a New Republic interview with Dr. Evangeline Parsons-Yazzie, a 61-year-old Navajo professor emeritus of Navajo (the language) at Northern Arizona University, on this issue.
http://www.newrepublic.com/...
3:38 PM PT: three hours ago, The Deschene campaign reported the following:
" We have great news to share with our supporters! This morning, the Navajo Nation Board of Election Supervisors reaffirmed our fundamental right to choose our own leader and proceed with the election with my name on the ballot. Our voices are being heard. Ballots are now available throughout the nation for early voting. Please vote at your agency elections office. And please call your chapter and encourage them to proceed with the election as planned. Let's win this, together!"
-Chris Deschene
(Note: I had read that the appeal needed to be heard by the Navajo supreme court, so I am not sure, but do not think this is the final word. I am not a member of the NN. I am in no way an expert nor do i have in depth knowledge about the NN system of governance. I have been following this story with interest.)
5:53 PM PT: further update from KOB news in New Mexico. text follows Link. http://www.kob.com/...
Navajo elections board: Deschene will be on ballot; elections will go forth as planned
Updated: 10/13/2014 3:50 PM | Created: 10/13/2014 3:36 PM
By: Blair Miller, KOB.com
The Navajo Nation election will go forth as planned and Chris Deschene will be on the ballot, despite objections to his candidacy, according to Edison Wauneka, the Executive Director of the Navajo Election Administration.
Deschene will run against Joe Shirley, Jr. in the election, which is scheduled to be held Nov. 4.
Wauneka said there had been no court order to remove Deschene from the ballot, and the Navajo Elections Board of Supervisors voted Monday to proceed with the ballot as planned.
The Office of Hearings and Appeals previously urged the Election Board to take his name off. The Navajo Supreme Court could still decide to take Deschene's name off the ballot, according to Wauneka, but since there has yet to be any court action, the ballot will remain unchanged.
Wauneka said the elections board did not want to change the ballot, and said "the people have spoken" when it came to Deschene's legitimacy as a candidate.
He said that should a court make a decision to remove Deschene between now and the election, the Navajo Nation would likely put Russell Begay on the ballot as his replacement. The Navajo Nation is scheduled to print ballots between Oct. 20 and 24, but Wauneka said the printing could take longer.
The Navajo Board of Election supervisors voted 4-2 Oct. 1 to move forward with the election, despite the challenges to Deschene's candidacy because he does not speak Navajo fluently,
Wauneka said at the time that board members cited N.N.C. § 24 (A) when making the decision. The amendment says the election administration should hold all candidate applications it has certified as eligible for 10 days, during which other applicants for the same position may file sworn challenges with the Office of Hearings and Appeals.
Former presidential candidates Dale E. Tsosie and Hank Whitethorne previously filed grievances about Deschene's potential candidacy, which were originally struck down by the Office of Hearings and Appeals.
Fri Oct 17, 2014 at 6:44 PM PT: legal wrangling has continued this week After the October 13 decision by the Election board to allow the election and voting to continue, with Deschene on the ballot. On Oct 14, Attorneys for two losing primary candidates Dale E. Tsosie and Hank Whitethorne filed a petition with the Navajo Nation Supreme Court to order the tribe’s election board and office to remove Chris Deschene as a presidential candidate from the general election ballot.
The petition claims the election board and election office are not following the Oct. 9 order from the Navajo Office of Hearings and Appeals that disqualified Deschene because he did not cooperate with a Navajo language fluency test and ordered the election office to replace Deschene’s name with that of Russell Begaye, the thrid place finisher in the Aug 26 primary. the petition also asks that Deschene be ordered to stop campaigning.
On Oct 15, Thursday, the Navajo Elections Board of Supervisor met to discuss this recent development and emerged from meeting stating that their primary concern is to ensure that the voice of Navajo Nation voters is heard. To date over 3,000 ballots have been submitted and accepted in the lead up to the Nov. 4 election.