Monticello • San Juan County decided Monday not to pursue further appeals in the landmark voting rights case that led to the election of the county’s first majority-Native American commission, ending seven years of litigation.
The commissioners voted unanimously at a special meeting in Monticello not to challenge a July 16 ruling from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a lower court’s finding that San Juan County had violated the Voting Rights Act when it drew its commission districts along racial lines.
“We’ve already lost a lot of money,” said Commission Chairman Kenneth Maryboy, a Democrat and member of the Navajo Nation who won his seat in the November election after the voting districts were redrawn by a court-appointed special master.