Ya’at’eeh Abini Relatives/Frens/Humans,
According to the following press release from “Navajo Votes Matter”, The Presidential Candidates have requested a special meeting of the Election Board on Thursday, September 29, 2022 to more timely consider their request for a Revote. Tomorrow, September 28, 2022, the Presidential Candidates will host a virtual press conference at 10:00 a.m. MDT, at which time they will announce their next steps in light of the Certification. Press can join via Zoom (see login info below).
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 27, 2022
NAVAJO NATION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES RESPOND TO CERTIFICATION OF TAINTED PRIMARY ELECTION
Window Rock, Arizona, Navajo Nation — September 27, 2022 — In late August the Navajo Nation Board of Election Supervisors conducted a historic, unprecedented full 110-Chapter recount of the August 2, 2022 Presidential Primary Election. This action was taken amid concerns expressed by 10 of the 15 presidential candidates regarding early, absentee, and day-of election irregularities, and the questionable reliability of antiquated election machine technology and software.
The recount began on Monday, August 29, 2022 and lasted an entire week. During the recount, presidential candidates and their poll watchers observed over 90 discrepancies.
For example, they discovered 44 unopened, uncounted early and absentee ballots for Becenti Chapter and 36 unopened, uncounted early and absentee ballots for Chilchinbeto Chapter. This amounted to the near disenfranchisement of 13 percent of Becenti Chapter’s voting population, and 10 percent of Chilchinbeto Chapter’s.
The recount also revealed over a hundred missing ballots for Teesto Chapter.
There were numerous mismatches between machine counts and hand counts for 56 of the 104 Chapters that the candidates were able to capture data on during the recount. This demonstrates issues with the machines either failing to read some ballots, or miscounting vote tallies. For all but the last day, the recount was conducted on machines borrowed or leased by the Nation.
The candidates also learned how insecure and widely varying the Nation’s ballot boxes are. There isn’t such a thing as a Navajo Nation ballot box; instead the Chapters must produce their own ballot boxes. Some use homemade wooden toy box-like boxes. Others use soft-back suitcases.
On Thursday, September 22, 2022, presidential candidates requested a revote for the Navajo Nation 2022 Primary Election (see attached letter) given the numerous discrepancies identified during the recount, the civil rights violations that happened in voter infringement leading up to and during the Primary, and the rampant inconsistencies in practices and knowledge among Board Members, Navajo Election administration staff, poll judges, and poll officials demonstrated during the Primary and the recount.
The Candidates requested that the revote occur with modern voting machine technology; a well-trained, neutral staff; secure and standardized ballot boxes with technology that would record any opening of the boxes and a chain-of-custody log filled out by anyone accessing the box; and a better balloting system that would allow for greater confidence during recounts that the ballots being recounted were the ballots actually cast in the election at issue.
The request for a revote was accompanied by a printout of an online petition the candidates have organized that was able to collect over 200 signatures within 36 hours. To date, the petition has attracted 335 signatures.
Previously, on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, the Presidential Candidates requested that the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors complete the recount by accounting for the early and absentee ballots for the ten largest Chapters. This was not done during the week-long recount. If ten percent of voters for the ten largest Chapters are early and absentee voters, there may yet be over 1,000 unopened, uncounted early and absentee ballots sitting in the ballot boxes for those Chapters.
On September 6, the candidates also asked for an opportunity to confirm that the number of ballots counted during the recount matches the number of individuals who voted in the 2022 Primary Election, which would be reflected by signatures and notations in the Chapter poll books. Finally, the candidates also asked for an accounting of all used and unused ballots to close out the 2022 Presidential Primary Recount. The Board did not provide any response to this request.
Instead, on Thursday, September 22, 2022, at a regular meeting, the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors certified the 2022 Navajo Nation Presidential Primary Election. This was done in the face of numerous public statements in opposition to the certification and in support of a revote.
Despite their certification of the 2022 Presidential Election, the Board indicated it would consider the Presidential Candidates’ request for a revote at their next regular meeting on October 13, 2022. Meanwhile, early and absentee voting for the General Election is set to begin October 10, 2022.
The Presidential Candidates have requested a special meeting of the Election Board on Thursday, September 29, 2022 to more timely consider their request for a Revote. Tomorrow, September 28, 2022, the Presidential Candidates will host a virtual press conference at 10:00 a.m. MDT, at which time they will announce their next steps in light of the Certification. Press can join via Zoom (see login info below).
For more information, Press only:
PR Contact Name: Ethel Branch
Phone number: 928-288-0255
Email: navajovotesmatter@gmail.com
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89984297351?pwd=RXBCVkx1QXRUakNzM21INHZaV2pDQT09
Meeting ID: 899 8429 7351
Passcode: 490152
One tap mobile
+17193594580,,89984297351#,,,,490152# US +12532158782,,89984297351#,,,,490152# US (Tacoma)
