Author: Donovan Quintero

Navajo voters from 37 chapters went to the polls on Tuesday in a special election to decide the fate of candidates who had been previously disqualified under a new election law.

At the Colorado River Water Users Association conference last week in Las Vegas, Nevada, representatives from the 25th Navajo Nation Council, the Navajo Nation Department of Justice, the Office of the President and Vice President, and the speaker’s office outlined the significant water challenges facing Navajo communities and the opportunities presented by ongoing water rights settlement agreements.

In the wake of a devastating 2023 flood that ravaged this community, Chinle Chapter President Rosanna Jumbo-Fitch met with representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week to discuss the chapter’s emergency response efforts and the need for long-term flood mitigation strategies.

Arbin Mitchell, a longtime tribal official who worked for several Navajo Nation presidents as chief of staff or a division director, has unofficially been declared the winner by 653 votes, according to unofficial results from the Navajo Nation Election Administration. 

Tonia Burbank, a representative from the Navajo Nation Election Administration, or NNEA, announced on Friday that a special election will be held at 37 chapters across the Navajo Nation on Tuesday, Dec. 10.