FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)  – Some precincts reported a shortage of ballots during Tuesday's Navajo Nation election and ran out before more could be delivered, tribal election officials said.
New Mexico state Sen. Lynda Lovejoy says she won't concede defeat in the tribal president's race until she knows for sure that the election was handled properly. Her campaign is urging voters who believe their rights were violated to file a complaint by the Nov. 12 deadline.
“In our case, we just want to make sure it's fair and square,” Lovejoy spokesman Robert Felson said Wednesday. “The amount that is different is enough reason to give us some hope.”
Tribal Vice President Ben Shelly received 52 percent of the vote in the Navajo president's race despite facing criminal charges, while Lovejoy had 47 percent, according to unofficial results. The two were separated by 3,335 votes.
Felson said the campaign has heard from voters who arrived at precincts that ran out of ballots and left in frustration, and others who said the names of registered voters didn't appear on the roster.
Election officials say ballots are printed for 80 percent of registered voters. Some are reserved for absentee and early voting, and any leftovers are supposed to be available on Election Day.
Overall turnout hit nearly 58 percent in the election, with some individual precincts as high as 69 percent.
Johnny Thompson of the Navajo Election Administration said election offices started receiving calls three hours before the polls closed with reports that precincts were low on ballots. He said it takes up to two hours for additional ballots to be delivered in some areas. Anyone in line at the time the polls closed still could vote.
“We just have to tell them the delivery is on the way, to be patient,” Thompson said. “It's a serious situation there. We handle it as a top priority.”
Thompson wasn't sure how many precincts had ballot troubles. He said the election administration also wouldn't know whether a voter who arrived at the polls before they closed wasn't able to cast a ballot unless a complaint is filed.
Tribal member Dexter Albert drove to his hometown of Whitehorse Lake on Tuesday to vote and was told the precinct was out of ballots but more were on the way. About a dozen people were given sample ballots to look over while they waited, he said.
“I don't think it should have happened, but I was OK with it,” said Albert, 33, of Flagstaff. “I wasn't going to turn away because I just drove 5 hours to vote. For me, it was important to wait 30 minutes.”
Lovejoy's campaign contends the integrity of the election is at stake and “she wants to find out what really happened,” Felson said. She had campaigned to make the tribal government more transparent and accountable to the people.
Lovejoy also plans to ask for a recount but had not done so by Wednesday evening.
Tuesday's election results are unofficial until the tallies called in by precincts are checked against data from electronic vote counters and challenged votes, which are similar to provisional ballots, are resolved. Any candidate also can seek a manual or electronic recount for a fee of $50 per precinct.
For all 110 chapters, that means $5,500.
Shelly's campaign contends Lovejoy is wasting her time and should admit that she lost. Lovejoy had a strong showing in the primary election, gaining more than twice as many votes as Shelly, but did not secure her bid to become the tribe's first female president.
“Everyone is confident we did win,” said Shelly spokesman Braden Nez. “If it was by less than 400, we'd be a little nervous. But we're just really pleased with the outcome and moving forward.”
AP-WS-11-03-10 2014EDT