WINDOW ROCK
If the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission’s draft grid map comes to fruition, Navajo voters may not get their mutton stew and roast bread in the polls.
That’s because the mandated U.S. Constitutional process, which requires the reassignment of congressional districts using 2020 census data, is once again moving and rearranging the Arizona legislature and Congress.
The countries are responsible for creating the maps. For Arizona, voters passed Proposition 106 in 2000, which amended the Arizona Constitution by stripping the state legislature of power to draw congressional and state legislative districts. The task was assigned to the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC).
In the proposed redistriction, the Apache County boundary creates two new legislative districts – Districts 6 and 7.
Traditionally, LD7 spanned across the state, from Kingman to the Navajo Nation. But the new boundaries take away Coconino and Navajo counties while retaining Apache County.
The proposed Legislative District 6 would include Coconino County and most of Navajo County. It would add Gila, Graham, and Cochise counties to Greenlee County, the southern tip of Navajo County.
The boundaries of Congressional District 1, which consists of seven districts, including all three districts that the nation is a part of, were also redrawn.
The new proposed congressional district would be CD2, significantly shrinking CD1, including only the southern portion of Maricopa County.
The new congressional district – CD2 – would continue to represent the tribe but add Cochise and Yavapai counties and the northern area of Maricopa County. It would lose the Grand Canyon.
resistance of the tribes
The draft map caught the attention of Navajo Nation officials, who opposed the proposed changes.
President Jonathan Nez compared connectivity issues. He said when the census data was collected, the internet was not reliable.
“The internet connection wasn’t that reliable, which plays into our discussion today,” Nez told the commission during a video conference. “As Navajo people, we are the data experts for our own communities.
“Therefore, again on behalf of the Navajo Nation, I respectfully call on the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission to recognize the Navajo Nation’s political boundary as a community of interest,” he said.
“And as you can see on these maps, the districts, the proposed lines, divide and separate the Navajo Nation,” he noted.
Nez told the commission the adopted legislative district map was a matter of concern for the tribe.
Leonard Gorman, executive director of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission, said the commission must overcome the voting rights law.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Gorman said. “We need to be creative to address the VRA (Voting Rights Act) concerns.
“The two splits – Districts 6 and 7 – on the grid map are unacceptable,” he said, “So scrap LD6 and LD7 and start with the original LD7, which will begin the process of bringing Native American voting age to 63% to reach population.”
Gorman said the newly proposed orientation of CD1 was also unacceptable.
“If you fall below 63% for LD7 and 23% for CD1 for both LD7 and CD1, we will seriously consider your regression problems,” Gorman told the commission. “Those are the two factors for the legislative and congressional districts.”
And if the legislative district splits, it would also force Navajo voters to travel a greater distance to vote in tribal elections before voting in state elections.
Impact on Diné voters
Most of the time, tribal and state elections take place under one roof. And with gasoline prices around $3.20 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline, that means you have more money to spend on fuel with the money that could be used to buy groceries or water.
While Native Americans make up 8.7% of the state’s population in New Mexico, 3.7% in Arizona, and 0.9% in Utah, the nation’s counties tell a different story.
In San Juan County, Utah, Native Americans make up 49.5% of the county’s population.
In Arizona, Apache County Natives are the dominant population at 70.4%. In Navajo County it was 43.6% and in Coconino County the percentage is much lower at 24.2%.
In New Mexico, Native Americans make up 76% of McKinley County, 39.8% of San Juan County, and 43.3% of Cibola County.
The redistribution of congressional and legislative lines means it could potentially go against the VRA and affect where Navajo voters go to vote.
“And that’s a form of disenfranchisement for Navajo voters, OK, because we have to go in different directions to cast all of our ballots,” Gorman said. “And it’s ridiculous.
“It’s crazy. It shouldn’t be like this,” Gorman said. “All of these county boundaries should align with Navajo political subdivision boundaries.
“That’s what they have to strive for under the Voting Rights Act.”
‘Devastating consequences
LeNora Fulton, former head of the Navajo Board of Election, introduced herself with her clans and told the commission how Navajo people identified how they were related to each other.
Sharing LD7 would be “devastating for us,” she said.
“It’s like sharing your family,” Fulton said. “It’s like mom and dad get separated and the kids are running around out there. “That’s not acceptable,” she said. “So we’re asking that we have the map checked.”
Fulton told the commission that the Navajo clan system has existed since time immemorial.
“So we’re all related as a nation, and that’s how we interact in every setting, be it political or voting,” she said. “And one of the things I’m looking at is that this Legislative District 7 that we have right now touches on something that has taken a long time to get to this place.
“People are happy here,” she says. “We are one entity; the Navajo Nation is one big community.”
The next meeting will be on October 7th at 4pm MST at Kayenta Township Hall.
To participate, call 404-397-1516 and use the access code 246 610 37519; or by video, download WebEx, use event number 2466 103 7519 and password DfJMG2GdU52 (33564243 from phones).
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