Voters: communities need change but it’s an uphill battle

Posted by Nicholas House | Nov 7, 2024 | News |

WINDOW ROCK – As people left early to vote on Election Day, some left in distraught and didn’t vote at the Tó Hajiileehé Chapter because the general election didn’t open until an hour after the Navajo Nation election.

Some voters got to the voting site at 6 a.m. but couldn’t vote for the general election until 7 a.m. This led to some people not voting.

Juana Apachito of Tó Hajiileehé Chapter was one of the first to vote for the Navajo Nation election at her voting location and is thankful that the election and politically induced stress have ended.

“The state don’t open ‘till 7 a.m., but I wanted to,” implying she was one of the voters that didn’t get to cast their state ballot. She felt that her community needs change but is an uphill battle because many of the same people ran with no contest.

“I feel like it’s going to still be the same. It’s kind of the same people running, so I feel that the people going in, are no different. In our community we need new people, we need new words, we need someone who really talks for us and makes moves for us. But with really no one running and no one wanting to step up, it makes it hard on us,” Apachito said.

Need for change

With well-needed change in the local communities, Melainia Perry of the Baca/Prewitt Chapter, re-registered to vote after a long hiatus to the polls. “Coming from the Navajo Nation I needed to see change,” Perry said, “I wanted to have my own insight on things and in order for me to help make that change I needed to be a part of voting this year.” She drove from Grants, New Mexico, where she currently resides, to her chapter, as many Diné have long commutes to cast their ballot.

Winning the Baca/Prewitt Chapter secretary-treasurer, Abram Chapo wanted to see how his community could support him and how he could give back to them. His late grandmother encouraged him to return to the community to help and give back.

“I went back to school. I went to Phoenix, and I started working for the tribe and I resigned with the tribe six years ago. Now I am working with Navajo Housing Authority––going on six years,” Chapo said. “With all my previous experience with the tribe and NHA, I thought about housing development. We don’t have a housing development (Baca/Prewitt) within our community and that’s something I want to work with. I want to get some housing development in our area.”

Voting for trusted candidates

Nadine Martinez of Thoreau Chapter voted for people she trusts and hopes they do well for the community. She said people should work for and prioritize the Diné veterans and the elders. As winter approaches, she urges people to get chapter officials on board to help their community, adding that roadways need to be fixed.

Running no-contest for the Thoreau Chapter president, Anita Benally is running her third term in the community as a chapter official. She has lived in the community for more than 40 years and this will be her second term as a chapter president. With a lot we need to do in the community, Benally gave insight that there’s unfinished projects that have sat idle for eight years and need completion. Housing, waterlines and power lines are needed as well.

“We have a lot of new families that have moved into the community and would like to have a stable home and work opportunities in our community,” Benally said. She also has a goal of making Thoreau a certified chapter. Her other plans are applying for revenue and seeking economic development opportunities. The Thoreau Chapter also has prospects for an economic development location near Interstate 40 near Thoreau, New Mexico.

Commuting from Albuquerque to Iyanbito, New Mexico, to vote, Melvin Carviso said he voted for the future – young students – and kept him and the elders in mind while casting his ballot on Nov. 5.

“I want to see better for ourselves, for my people, and the Nation itself. Without good leadership, that won’t be possible,” Carviso said, “I just hope the best candidate wins. And for our local chapters, I came home from Albuquerque to vote today for my Navajo Nation, and I just wish each candidate that’s running today, the best they can do for the community they are running for. They say they’re going to do this and that and I want to see that in them. We as Navajo Nation, we should be growing and prospering.”