Navajo Nation delegate motions to override president’s veto; contempt of court hearings to be live-streamed Friday

Navajo Nation Council Delegate Leonard Tsosie filed a motion Tuesday evening to override Navajo Nation President Ben Shelley’s veto of the language requirement resolution to the Navajo Nation Election Code. The motion was released to KOB Thursday.

Shelley vetoed the resolution Tuesday after it was passed by the Navajo Nation Council Oct. 23. The veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote by the Navajo Nation Council.

The motion is now open for a comment period, which will last through Nov. 2. The motion is eligible for action Nov. 3, the day before the scheduled Navajo Nation election.

The Navajo Nation Supreme Court will also live stream the contempt of court hearing Friday that will determine if presidential candidate Chris Deschene, the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors and the Navajo Election Administration should be held in contempt for not adhering to the Supreme Court’s ruling that Deschene be removed from the presidential ballot and the election be postponed.

The live stream for the hearing can be viewed starting at 10 a.m. Friday here.

Dale Tsosie and Hank Whitethorne, the two men petitioning against Deschene’s candidacy, filed that motion Monday.

But the Navajo Nation Election Board Commissioner, Wallace Charley, was adamant that the elections board will not follow those orders.

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.

“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.”