Navajo Election panel pushes voter registration

By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Election Administration has spent $13,000 on radio sponsorships designed to spread election news and spur voter registration.
NEA Director Edison Wauneka said it was money well spent.

“We can get more information out to the public,” Wauneka said. “Voter registration has gone up, and voter participation has gone up.”

However Board of Election Supervisors member Zane James would like to see some hard facts to back up Waunka’s claim.

“I'd like to see numbers,” James said. “I'd like some type of measurement system, so we can determine if (the sponsorships) are successful.”

For example, he'd like to compare the number of registered voters in an area before a radio sponsorship, and the number afterwards.

He can gather that information, Wauneka said.

“If it wasn't working, I'd put a stop to it,” Wauneka added.

In other business before the NBOES, Wauneka noted ongoing efforts to pay an overdue $68,000 bill to Automated Election Systems. He said Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan was going to submit legislation for it, but failed to get it on the recent Budget & Finance Committee meeting agenda.
Morgan said the legislation could be tacked onto other legislation from the council floor, Wauneka said.

James said he did not like piggybacking one bill onto another. The NEA shouldn't rely on that system, James said.

“This is a serious matter. We should clear that bill,” NBOES member Charles Long said.

“We'll push as hard as we can to get the bill paid,” Wauneka said.

However, Wauneka pointed out, programs have to rely on council delegates to get legislation through.

“I think someone dropped the ball on this,” James said. “It frustrates me that between the speaker's office and ours, someone didn't do their job.”

John Christian Hopkins can be reached at Hopkins1960@hotmail.com