Navajo voters stayed with the tribe's traditional opposition to gambling, turning down legalization of gaming on their sprawling reservation and picking a casino opponent as their president.
And President-elect Albert Hale said it will take a combination of tradition, innovation and unity to solve the problems facing the 180,000 tribal members who reside on the three-state reservation.With all 110 tribal chapters reporting, Hale had 29,840 votes to 25,057 for Peterson Zah. Election officials said there were about 2,000 absentee and challenged ballots uncounted but that they wouldn't change the outcome.
Voters rejected the tribal council's gaming proposal by a vote of 27,022 to 21,998. In conceding defeat, Zah said he didn't believe the gambling referendum played a significant role in his defeat.