FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – The Navajo Supreme Court has rejected arguments that the tribe’s chief hearing officer who ruled in favor of keeping a presidential candidate in the race was unqualified.

Richie Nez of the Navajo Office of Hearings and Appeals had planned to resign the post he’s held since 2011 after he was challenged in court documents for not having a state bar license as required by tribal law, said Deswood Tome, a presidential adviser. But Nez won’t follow through with the plan in light of this week’s ruling by the high court, Tome said.

The hearing office takes on child support cases, environment and grazing disputes, employee grievances and election challenges. Perhaps the most high-profile case of Nez’s tenure was that of Chris Deschene, a Navajo presidential hopeful who was disqualified earlier this year for not speaking fluent Navajo. Russell Begaye took Deschene’s place and was the subject of the latest Supreme Court opinion.

Former presidential candidate Myron McLaughlin filed a grievance against Begaye alleging financial improprieties and questioning Begaye’s loyalty to the tribe. Nez ruled in favor of Begaye last month.

McLaughlin appealed to the high court and presented an argument that he said only recently came to his attention. He said Nez shouldn’t have presided over the case because he wasn’t licensed to practice in the states where the Navajo Nation is situated – Arizona, New Mexico or Utah. Nez is a member of the Navajo Bar Association.

Navajo district court and high court justices don’t have the same requirement.

The high court justices said they presume that Nez’s appointment by the tribal president was proper and legal, or that he was serving as a de facto judge. They said such judges aren’t subject to attack on challenges first raised on appeal.

Written arguments on the appeal are due within the week.

McLaughlin said he disagreed with Nez’s legal analysis and wants another shot before the Supreme Court to present his case.

“I just think it was an unfair decision,” he said.

The justices also sought to speed up election challenges by now requiring that opening briefs be filed at the same time a notice of appeal is filed.

The president’s race on the Navajo Nation appears unlikely to be decided by the time other elected officials are seated in January. It was separated from the Nov. 4 general election after Deschene was qualified, and election officials haven’t set a new date because the case against Begaye is ongoing.

Tome said Navajo President Ben Shelly will review Nez’s appointment. He was given the job with a stipulation that he obtain a state bar license within a year. Tome said no one kept track of whether Nez was pursuing that.

“It was completely an oversight,” he said.

The hearing office referred all questions to the president’s office.