County commissioners vote to create four new voter precincts after increase of voters

FARMINGTON — The San Juan County Commission voted to create four new voting precincts and adjust four others after seeing an increase in voters in the last two general elections.

The county commissioners on Sept. 14 unanimously approved a resolution to create and adjust precinct boundaries to comply with state law, according to a video recording of the meeting.

San Juan County Clerk Tanya Shelby presented the resolution to the commissioners and explained how county voter precincts 1, 8, 48 and 54 had more than 750 votes cast in the two previous general elections and need to be adjusted in accordance with state election code.

Precinct 1 is located in the northwest of the county which borders Colorado and precinct 8 is in the central west portion of the county which touches the Arizona state line.

Precinct 48 is in the Farmington Lake area and precinct 54 runs east of County Road 5500 in the Lee Acres area north of the San Juan River and south of U.S. Highway 64.

The commissioners were presented with three map options from Shelby.

The county clerk recommended “Map C,” which was developed to take into account Navajo chapter boundaries along with visible terrain features which voters have used to describe their residences.

Parts of precinct 1 will be turned into the new precinct 130, as part of precinct 8 will be included in the new precinct 134.

Portions of precinct 48 will turn into the new precinct 99 and potions of precinct 54 will turn into new precinct 82.

Shelby said there are more than 15,000 registered voters in San Juan County who used a description and/or a drawn map on their voter registration to describe where they live.

Registered voters who do not have a street address or county road address like on the Navajo Nation, sometimes use descriptions like a certain number of miles away from a chapter house, near an arroyo or near power lines to help make sure they are in the right precinct, Shelby told the commission.

Commissioner Gloria Todacheene spoke, stating she believed “Map C” was the most feasible and workable option. 

Joshua Kellogg covers breaking news for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or via email at jkellogg@daily-times.com.

Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e