Election Office's Wauneka: OHA disqualification of Deschene hearsay

By Alastair Lee Bitsoi

Navajo Times



WINDOW ROCK – In spite of the Navajo Office of Hearings and Appeals decision to disqualify presidential candidate Christopher Clark Deschene, 43, on a default judgment, voters can still cast their ballots for him as walk-in absentees.

This is according to Edison Wauneka, executive director for the Navajo Election Administration, who stated that the decision by OHA Hearing Officer Richie Nez to disqualify Deschene is “hearsay.”

“Right now, its just hearsay until we get documents from the OHA,” said Wauneka in an interview with the Navajo Times.

“So, right now, people can still vote,” he added.

The number of people that have voted for Deschene during the 2014 Navajo Nation General Election, and whether their votes will count or not, is up to the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors, Wauneka noted.

He said that the election supervisors would meet for a special meeting to determine if the voters that casted votes in support of Deschene would be counted.

“They will be the ones to decide to take him off or whatever,” Wauneka added. “Voting is as usual as of today.”

The election supervisors are expected to convene in a special meeting in the next few days, stated Wauneka.

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