Polling places unchanged

by David Boyle
News Director
A request to place more county polling places at Navajo Chapter houses by the Navajo Nation to San Juan County will not be granted due to a lack of available equipment.
At a recent county meeting, San Juan County Clerk Lyman Duncan reported on a request from the Navajo Nation to expand the number of polling places during the November 8 general election.
County officials said the county is unable to grant the request due to a lack of available voting equipment.
Duncan reported at the October 4 meeting that approximately two weeks prior he had heard a request to add voting locations at chapter houses from Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission Executive Director Leonard Gorman.
The request was to replace election-day voting at the Dine Professionals Building in Montezuma Creek with county-administered voting at the Aneth, Red Mesa, and Mexican Water Chapter houses.
The request also came to the county from the Navajo Utah Commission in a resolution.
That resolution noted the difficulties of voting in federal and tribal elections on the same day for Navajo Nation residents who may have to travel from their chapter house and then to another location to participate in both elections.
Duncan reported after receiving the request, his office contacted the two vendors for election equipment.
“One creates a provisional ballot, that you use to vote on. They responded back and said the earliest they could get the equipment to us would be in late November, without that piece of equipment, that makes the other piece of equipment not available also, in fact, (the second vendor) hasn’t even responded.”
As a result, election day voting will take place as planned in Navajo Mountain, Monument Valley, Montezuma Creek, and Monticello.
County Administrator Mack McDonald said the settlement agreement mentions the county and tribe may negotiate or consider other locations on a year with federal and Navajo Nation elections.
“I wish we would’ve had this request a little bit earlier in the year when we met with the Navajo Nation back in May,” said McDonald. “But when we looked at the recent request they don’t have the equipment that we need to expand out of the three (locations) that we initially have.”
Early voting sites will be available at the White Mesa Community Center, the Bluff Community Center, the Monument Valley Welcome Center, and the Chapter Houses in Aneth, Navajo Mountain, Red Mesa, and Mexican Water.
Drop-off boxes will also be available at the county building in Monticello and city offices in Blanding. The full early voting schedule can be viewed in the latest edition of the San Juan Record.