Navajos Have Six Potential NM State <br>House Representative Positions<br>

Window Rock, Ariz. - Navajo Nation Attorney General Levon B. Henry announced today that Native Americans won a major victory in State voting rights this week during the redistricting trial for the New Mexico State House of Representatives.  Native Americans will now have six House districts in the northwest corner of New Mexico with a 60 percent or greater majority of Native Americans of voting age.            

Attorney General Henry explained that the Navajo Nation has been advocating for more Native American representatives in the State House. The Navajo Nation Council Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee on redistricting began the effort in January 2001 by testifying before the New Mexico Legislature Committee on Redistricting. Navajo Nation Council Speaker Edward T. Begay, said,  “This is a solid victory for Navajos and Native Americans in Northwest New Mexico.  This has been a lengthy process and I am glad the efforts of the Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee and our attorneys have paid off for the benefit of the Navajo Nation.” 

Members of the Council’s Intergovernmental Subcommittee on Redistricting include Delegates Ervin Keeswood, Tom LaPahe and Kenneth L. Begay. The Native American districts are part of a redistricting plan selected by New Mexico State Court Judge Frank Allen, Jr. in a decision issued Thursday, January 24, 2002.  Judge Allen found that currently, “the voting strength of Native Americans in the State [is] diluted and Native Americans do not have an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of choice.”

To remedy this violation of the federal Voting Rights Act, Judge Allen adopted the partial redistricting plans submitted by the Navajo Nation and the Jicarilla Apache Tribe for the northwest corner and inserted them into a state-wide plan (HB-3) which was passed by the State Legislature last September but subsequently vetoed by Governor Gary Johnson. Redistricting considerations are triggered every ten years when the official census reveals a change in population within a state, raising constitutional issues about whether the population is equally distributed among the districts.  The 2000 Census in New Mexico revealed a shift in population state-wide and a gain of 303,977 individuals for a total population of 1,819,045.

In a Special Session last September, the State Legislature redrew the 70 State House districts to assure that each had a population of 25,986, plus or minus 5 percent, the population deviation which is permissible for legislatively drawn plans.  Twice the State Legislature passed redistricting plans for the House and twice the plans were vetoed by the Governor.  When the Special Session did not result in a new plan, Democrats, Republicans, Hispanics, Navajos and Jicarilla Apaches sought relief from the courts.    Six plans were submitted for consideration and the pros and cons of each were debated at length.

The eleven-day trial included  testimony of eighteen witnesses:  seven experts in the fields of political science or redistricting, several legislators,  Rep. Ken Martinez, Mayor John Pena of Gallup, Speaker Begay, and Claudia Vigil Muniz, President of the Jicarilla Apache Tribe.

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