Just 1 of 6 Navajos Wins Office; Vote May Be Protested

A slate of Navajo Indian candidates running against Anglo-dominated government in a rural Utah county was soundly defeated Tuesday. Only one of the six Navajos was elected.

Mark Maryboy, a Navajo Indian, was reelected to the three-member San Juan County commission. The Navajo candidates for county clerk, treasurer, assessor, recorder and sheriff were all defeated by wide margins.

A spokesman for the Navajo slate said the candidates were considering filing a protest, alleging election irregularities, with the U.S. Justice Department, which monitored the election.

In the weeks before the election, San Juan County Clerk Gail Johnson invalidated the voter registration forms of about 1,000 residents of the Navajo reservation. Johnson said the forms were duplicates.