Navajo voters reject road improvements using trust fund
A van sits stuck in the mud about 500 feet from U.S. Highway 491 on Monday afternoon north of Naschitti, N.M. Recent storms that has been bringing much needed moisture to the area has caught some folks living on the reservation off guard. (Times photo - Donovan Quintero)
It wasn’t even close.
Navajo voters wanted no part of a Navajo Nation Council proposal to take $216 million out of the tribe’s Permanent Trust Fund to improve roads on the reservation.
Only 4,237 Navajos voted for the proposal, according to unofficial figures released Tuesday evening. The number of people voting against the proposal was 14,794.
This is for results from 109 of the 110 chapters. Only Coyote Canyon votes were out at 9 p.m.
This means about 19,000 Navajos voted in the election for a turnout of less than 15 percent. In regular elections, the turnout is usually more than 60 percent.
Except for the late returns from Coyote Canyon, election officials reported the the election went smoothly.
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