Weekly Edition | February 20, 2012 | By: NP writer

The new Arizona Redistricting map of 2012-AZ updated their map, but Navajo officials say San Juan County, UT will not.

Window Rock, AZ – The Navajo Human Rights Commission is seeking full audio recordings of the county commissioner meetings from August 2011 to February 2012 from the San Juan County clerk’s office in Utah, but their request was denied access to the recordings.

The Executive Director, Leonard Gorman of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission and a Policy Analyst said they wanted to listen to the recent recordings of the meetings, but San Juan County said their attorney would need to listen to the recordings before they release them.

Navajo officials say San Juan County violates their own policy of the Utah’s Government Records Access and Management Act  (GRAMA) to access public information and say the Utah’s State Legislature web site, sets forth guidelines for classifying information in government records based upon who has the right to access that information.

The Political tapped dance by San Juan County (Utah).

In a political system where even the most trivial issues trigger partisan rancor; the voting rights act has stood for several decades as a rare point of bipartisanship consensus. Until now, because San Juan County commissioner chairman Bruce Adams recently accused Leonard Gorman of wanting the San Juan County Commission to be dominated by Navajos.

Mr. Adams also threatened Navajo officials if they followed through with the lawsuit it could take San Juan County back to the at-large election system it had before 1984. “Then no Native Americans would be elected,” he said.

According to a recent poll conducted by the Navajo Post, we found 91 percent of people said they would like to see Mr. Adams resign for his remarks and only 9 percent said he shouldn’t.

In January, the Navajo Department of Justice filed that lawsuit for what is described as “alleged unequal representation in the San Juan County’s commission districts.”

The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission will present redistricting information and receive public input on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 10 a.m., at the Aneth Chapter and at Red Mesa Chapter in Utah, at 2 p.m.

These meetings are to get the public’s input about San Juan County redistricting. Navajo officials say they will give a brief presentation about redistricting standards and explain the Voting Rights Act and how the Act effects’ Navajos and resident voters.

Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act in response to methods used by states, which prevented minority populations from voting-takes place every ten years. The purpose of the Act is to ensure the rights of all citizens to vote, including the right to register to vote and cast meaningful votes; it is preserved and protected as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Section 2 and Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

Officials from the Navajo Nation say this is important because the two sections prohibit discrimination and want to ensure Navajo citizens’ voting rights are protected.