On July 7 the Arizona Supreme Court denied our appeal to have Albert Hale removed from the ballot.  We felt our case was justified and the principle of the matter was well thought through in our decision to pursue this course.  I want to thank our gallant supporters from across the District (Dine', Hopi, Hualapai, Havasupai, San Juan Pauite, and the City of Flagstaff resident voters).  In our case as you know we believed in our heart that the outcome would have been different had the courts listened to the facts presented and not made a hastily decision.  Our challenge to the petitions submitted by Albert Hale was based on the following inaccurate items found on his petition forms:

·        Voters not registered

·        Voters registered in a different party

·        Voters not registered in the district

·        Duplicate voters signing more than once on a petition.

·        Physical address & PO Box No. that did not match the voter files.

·        Blank or no PO Box or Address listed or printed on the petition,

·        Inconsistency of the voter process across the state.

These are all valid inquiries and by our research we amassed more than enough invalid entries.  Many of the petitions submitted did in fact have a PO Box No. and physical address and were unchallenged.  The guidelines we followed on voters signing our petitions included both PO Box and physical address.  Albert Hale and his Attorney’s challenged the case as being only about the PO Boxes and singling out Navajos, this is false.

In a prepared statement Albert Hale and his Attorney’s said, “Here, Plaintiff is only challenging Navajo Candidates, and if he were successful, it will disenfranchise an entire group of Native Americans who reside in a very rural part of the State.”

This statement is false.  There are only two candidates, myself and Albert Hale – Both of us are Native Americans.  To say that it would disenfranchise Native Americans is another untruthful statement and I find this comment uncalled for using race as the cornerstone for his defense. 

Legislative District 2 includes five counties and I challenged all five counties for the same reasons.  Only Yavapai and Mohave Counties did not have any voters signing Albert Hale’s petition.  This was due to the fact that Albert Hale’s petition included only voters who were only in the Counties of Apache, Coconino, and Navajo (counties that encompass only the Navajo Reservation).  More than half of the petitions included voters not registered to vote, voters in the wrong party, voters not registered in the

district, and voters signing more than once on his petition, and voters with no address or PO Box numbers.

Voters in four counties signed our petition that included Navajo, Hopi, Hualapai / Havasupai, and the City of Flagstaff resident voters.  Legislative District 2 includes a much larger voting base - five counties, five tribes and the City of Flagstaff!

Fact:  Albert Hale listed three different addresses on his petition:

1)     A PO Box listed in Window Rock, AZ – which the Apache County Recorder

did not verify.

2)     A description of an address ¼ mile from St. Michaels Chapter House as listed on Albert Hale’s voter file.

3)     15 Kolob Street, St Michaels, AZ which is not a “residence” but a business office.  This alone was a major finding as the petition clearly indicates under oath that Albert Hale resides at that residence.

Albert Hale once again has gotten away with misleading the voters.  Albert Hale allowed many voters to sign his petition who were not registered voters, and who are not registered in his district.  He has further deceived voters saying he lives at an address which is a business address, with an actual different residence address listed on his voter record!  Were does Hale live – Phoenix?

In the past I have addressed this same issue to the Secretary of State’s Office.  I know that many of our reservation communities do not have a street address.  I for one do not have a street address and use my PO Box number and physical address.  So, for Albert Hale and his lawyers to insinuate and deceive voters that I do not know about this issue and many other issues that affect Native Country is an insult.  Instead the Democratic Party and candidates rallied around jumping on the bandwagon for free press singling out Native Americans voters.  This issue is an issue that affects all of rural Arizona. Legislators and candidates should have been addressing how they would fix this issue.

As a Native American I have advocated on many issues including this issue.  I realized the only way I could truly experience and deal with the issues our Native People are facing first hand was to move back to the reservation. My family and I reside in the heart of the reservation in rural Arizona - my wife is Dine'.  We have experienced firsthand the issues and concerns affecting native people but find many of the issues are seldom addressed. 

As State Senator I will not wait around for and standby and let this issue go unaddressed.  This will be a priority of mine.  I learned from this case that there is no consistency in this process and County Recorders make their own rules when it comes to verifying election petitions.

Again, this case was not solely based upon the PO Boxes as the majority of the media / newspapers have been publishing.  There were two challenges which included a Democrat challenging two other Democrats.  A Republican challenging a Democrat for the reasons stated above and not about race or ethnicity.

Again, Thank you for your continued support and prayers.  Our campaign for interigity and accountability continues.  This election your vote is very important. 

Your vote, your choice.