Naabik’iyati Committee Advances 2025 Reapportionment Plan with Equity Amendments, Impacting McKinley County

The Naabik’iyati Committee advanced Legislation No. 0001-26 approving the 2025 Navajo Nation Council Reapportionment Plan, sponsor Delegate Arbin Mitchell announced in press materials dated Feb. 17–18, 2026; the committee vote was reported as 15 in favor and two opposed, and the measure will move to the Navajo Nation Council as final authority. Mitchell presented the measure alongside Larry Rodgers of the Commission on Navajo Government Development and Dr. Victoria Yazzie, chair pro tem of the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors, according to the office of the speaker’s release from Window Rock.

The legislation is framed as fulfilling the statutory duty under 11 N.N.C. § 9 to adopt a new reapportionment plan every 10 years to maintain substantially equal legislative districts while respecting chapter and agency boundaries, and the press materials state the plans are based primarily on 2020 federal census data. Public hearings supporting the Board’s work were held across all five Navajo Nation agencies Oct. 27–31, 2025, and Navajo Times reporting noted “months of public hearings, internal review and a December work session with the Naabik’íyati’ Committee.”

The Navajo Board of Election Supervisors produced five draft map illustrations and recommended Plan 5 as its preferred option, followed by Plans 3 and 4, language repeated in both the council release and Navajo Times reporting. Delegate Arbin Mitchell told the committee, “Reapportionment is a legal responsibility that ensures every Navajo voter has fair and balanced representation.” He added, “Plan 5 was recommended by the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors after public hearings and careful data review. Our responsibility is to adopt a defensible plan that reflects our chapters, agencies and the principle of equal representation for the next decade.” Interim Navajo Election Administration Executive Director Veronica Curley summarized the Board’s position in Navajo Times: “The Navajo Board of Election Supervisors has recommended Plans 5, 3 and 4, in that order of preference, after months of public hearings, internal review and a December work session with the Naabik’íyati’ Committee.”

Key procedural and record items remain unsettled in the public materials: the NNOLs entry for a related resolution, CJY-23-25 (Legislation No. 0100-25) uploaded Aug. 11, 2025, lists sponsor Arbin Mitchell and contains what appears to be conflicting deadline language, “temporarily waive 11 N.N.C. § 9 until January 31, 2026, and provide an extension … on or before January 12, 2026”, language that requires clarification from legislative records staff. The council’s Feb. 17–18 press release and a separate user fragment cite the committee action with differing dates (Feb. 17–18 vs. Feb. 23, 2026), an inconsistency that will need verification in Naabik’iyati Committee minutes and the official roll-call.

The press release and Facebook post advancing Legislation No. 0001-26 did not include the amendment text or the map exhibit attached to the motion; Navajo Times reporting says adoption would take effect beginning with the 2026 general election. That timing means delegates and chapter officials who represent communities within McKinley County could see their district lines and delegate assignments change for the 2026 cycle if the full Navajo Nation Council adopts the plan as advanced. The Office of the Speaker listed a media contact at nnlb.communications@gmail.com for the release; the Naabik’iyati Committee packet, committee minutes, the full text and exhibits for Legislation No. 0001-26, and the CJY-23-25 PDF on NNOLs are the documents needed next to identify the precise amendments and the specific map that will govern representation for the coming decade.