The president of the Navajo Nation has vetoed a bill that would have put a question on the November ballot asking whether the tribe’s 110 chapters should be consolidated into 24 regional governments over a four-year period.
The Farmington Daily-Times says Russell Begaye said he vetoed the measure because he wants more opportunities for public input before voters decide the issue. In a press release, Navajo Nation Council Speaker LoRenzo Bates criticized the veto, saying, “the underlying intent of the resolution and referendum was to give the Navajo people a voice to decide how their government should be structured.”