Navajo Election Board Commissioner: ‘We’ll go to jail’ before removing Deschene’s name from ballot

ALBUQUERQUE — The Navajo Nation Election Board Commissioner, Wallace Charley, told KOB Tuesday that the board will go to jail before it removes Chris Deschene from the presidential ballot for the upcoming election.

Charley said the board members will act in opposition to the Navajo Supreme Court’s ruling to remove Deschene from the ballot last Friday, as well as Navajo President Ben Shelley’s Tuesday veto of the resolution that would have removed the language fluency requirement for multiple government positions, including the president.

“The Navajo are citizens of the United States; there is a constitution that gives the principle that people have a right to vote, and their votes cannot be denied,” Charley told KOB. “So based on that, the Navajo Board of Elections Supervisors will not back off on this principle. Whether that means going to jail – fine. We’ll go to jail and see what comes out of this.”

CONTEMPT OF COURT MOTION FILED

Dale Tsosie and Hank Whitethorne, the two men petitioning against Deschene’s candidacy, filed a motion Monday to hold Deschene, the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors and the Navajo Election Administration  in contempt of court for not following through on the Supreme Court’s ruling last Friday to remove Deschene from the ballot.

But Charley was adamant that the elections board will not follow those orders.

“There are thousands of votes that have already been cast,” Charley told KOB. “The election board cannot, and will not ever nullify those votes – just throw them away – we’re not going to do it.”

“A lot of [the votes] are from servicemen still in uniform, veterans, the elderly,” Charley said. “To nullify the vote of someone like that…it does not happen in this country. People have a right to vote, and their votes cannot be denied.”

“The decision to amend the language requirements in Title 11, the Navajo Nation Election Code, must be brought before the Navajo people through a referendum vote,” President Shelley said in a release following his veto. “We are a nation of laws. I took an oath to uphold the law.”

DESCHENE’S CAMP RESPONDS

The language amendment to the Navajo Nation Code was implemented in 1990, and says that the president and vice president “must fluently speak and understand Navajo and read and write English, which language proficiency shall be determined by the People voting in favor of the person upon the right and freedom of the Diné to choose their leaders.”

Stacy Pearson, the spokesperson for Deschene’s presidential campaign, said that the people’s support of Deschene throughout the primary and following election season means the people have spoken in support of Deschene and his ability to speak the Navajo language, as stated in the 1990 amendment.

Pearson said that Deschene has not conceded following Shelley’s veto Tuesday. But she also said he is not actively campaigning.

“It’s the definition of limbo,” Pearson told KOB.

Navajo Nation Council Delegate Leonard Tsosie, who sponsored the language requirement amendment that Shelley vetoed, said he will file an appeal to try and override the veto.

Deschene remains on the ballot for the time being, as the elections board has not taken action to remove him. Navajos can still vote for Deschene at the moment.

Pearson said the Navajo Nation “is in the middle of a constitutional crisis.”

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The next steps in the election could come from just about anywhere at this point. The Navajo Attorney General is set to sort out the mess Oct. 31. However, Tsosie’s override could come into play before that.

The contempt of court petition will be heard at 10 a.m. Oct. 31 at the Chinle District Court. Deschene, the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors and the Navajo Election Administration will be able to file a single response to the motion by 2 p.m. Oct. 30.

Pearson said she has received lots of feedback from Deschene voters, who are understandably frustrated. She said there is talk of class-action lawsuits being filed by voters, though they are unsure of who to file them against.

She said Deschene’s biggest concern, at this point, is the safety of the Navajo people and the integrity of the upcoming election.

“This is bigger than Chris and his campaign,” Pearson said. “It’s a matter of making sure any protest is done peacefully…Chris is trying to find a peaceful resolution for everything.”

“[This] has set the stage for a battle no one wanted to see between fundamental law and fluency. Those two things, at the most basic level, should be in harmony, and yet they’re disconnected,” Pearson said. “Taking away people’s rights to choose their own leader has become a bigger issue than Chris’ personal mastery of the language.”

“President Shelley, I don’t know what he was thinking,” Charley said. “I’m very disappointed in him.”

“If we take Chris Deschene’s name off the ballot and put someone else’s name on there, the people that voted for Chris Deschene, they have every right to choose their leaders, and if they feel like Chris Deschene is their leader, that’s how they voted,” Charley said.

“The Board of Elections will not back off on that – just throwing those votes away,” Charley said. “We’re going to stand on it, and that’s the reason for going to jail, I guess.”

The call to meet says that “if the Court determines that there is a violation of duty by election officers, violation of the Election Code, or contemptuous conduct, then the Court will address remedial actions.”