Complaint against special election dismissed

An attempt to challenge the Dec. 15 special election in which voters approved reducing the membership of the Navajo Nation Council from 88 to 24 and to give the president line-item veto authority has failed - for now.

The Office of Hearings and Appeals late Friday (Jan. 15) dismissed a grievance filed by Timothy Nelson of Leupp, Ariz., against President Joe Shirley Jr. and his initiative petition committee, according to the president's office.

The hearing officer, Karen Bernally, also cancelled a Jan. 21 hearing scheduled to hear Nelson's grievance.

Bernally granted Shirley's motion to dismiss the grievance filed Dec. 23 by Nelson.

Bernally found that Nelson's grievance had not included the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors and the Navajo Election Administration in his complaint, noting that they are indispensable parties meaning they should have been included.

She also found that two of Nelson's complaints did not allege non-compliance with the Navajo Election Code and four complaints were untimely.

"It is therefore ordered that the Statement of Grievance is hereby dismissed in its entirety and with prejudice and the respondents are awarded their costs and attorney's fees," the order reads.

Shirley's motion for dismissal, which was filed Jan. 11, noted that neither he nor his petition committee made the decisions that Nelson complained of in his grievance, nor did they conduct the special election.

"All those complaints could have been and should have been addressed within 10 days of April 29, 2008, when the petitions were first presented to the Navajo Election Administration for determination of sufficiency," Shirley's motion stated. "The petitioner cannot wait until this late date, 20 months after submittal, to complain about the content of the petition."

"The Navajo Election Administration conducted the special election on Dec. 15, 2009, and is responsible for many of the acts complained of in the statement," it says.

"The Navajo Board of Election Supervisors and the Navajo Election Administration are therefore the parties best able to defend their actions in the calling and conduct of the special election," the motion said.

Nelson has indicated that he and his group, called Diné for Fairness in Government, will file an appeal.

Bernally's ruling apparently opens the way for the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors to certify the results of the Dec. 15 special election.

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