Western Agency chooses Kerry<br>

WINDOW ROCK — Voters across the Navajo Nation braved cold weather to vote in the Arizona and New Mexico democratic primary elections for the U.S. Presidency on Feb. 3.

The Navajo Nation even gave tribal employees two hours paid leave to vote in the elections. Seven states were holding primary elections, including Arizona and New Mexico.

Tribal employees are often provided two hours to vote for tribal elections, such as for the tribal presidency and seats on the Navajo Nation Council. It wasn’t known if this is the first time that all 6,000 tribal employees were given paid leave for two hours to vote in a primary election.

This year, Navajo leaders have been aggressive in urging tribal members to get out and vote. In November, Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. teamed up with National Congress of American Indians President Tex Hall for a Native Vote campaign, unveiled at the NCAI gathering in Albuquerque. And last week, Navajo Nation Speaker of Council Lawrence Morgan joined Shirley to sign a proclamation encouraging Navajos to vote.

Meanwhile, the Feb. 3 election showed that Navajos voters mirrored those of Arizona and New Mexico democratic voters. Across all counties on the Navajo Nation, Sen. John Kerry averaged between 30 to 40 percent of the votes, while Retired General Wesley Clark often came in second and Sen. Joe Lieberman often third.

In Apache County, Kerry received 37 percent of the votes, while Lieberman finished second with 923 votes.

According to Navajo officials, there are about 47,000 registered Democracts on the Arizona side of the Navajo Nation.

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