THE 2026 ELECTION

The constitution question

On November 3, 2026, the ballot asks two things: who should lead, and whether the Navajo Nation should adopt a proposed constitution. This page is the question’s home — what a yes or a no would each mean, the strongest case people make on both sides, and what the candidates themselves said on the record. The verdict is yours; this page only makes sure you have the material.

What the ballot asks

A yes adopts the proposed constitution as the Nation’s foundational law — a written structure the government operates under, amendable by the people. A no keeps the current arrangement: government under Title 2 of the Navajo Nation Code and the 1989 amendments, changeable by Council action. Either way, the candidate races on the same ballot are a separate decision. The provisions of the working draft, sourced section by section, live in Constitution 101.

The case supporters make

Supporters argue a constitution puts the foundational rules where the Council alone can’t change them — only the people can. One candidate put the principle this way:

Supporters also point to the problems this site documents everywhere — oversight that stalls, offices with no clear owner, law the public cannot read — as structural problems a written foundation could address. That argument is theirs to make; whether the draft would address them is exactly what a voter reads the draft to decide.

The cautions people raise

Skeptics answer that the Nation has been here before — and said no. One candidate recalled the history:

Others question the draft itself. One candidate described his reading of it:

Cautions also include timing (adopting a foundation during a contested election year) and the concern that structure alone doesn’t fix enforcement — several of the seams this site found are laws that exist but aren’t carried out.

What the candidates said

Candidates across the interview record (42 interviewed as of July 11, 2026) spoke about the constitution or the referendum on tape — some for, some against, some explaining the process, some candid that they hadn’t seen it yet. That range is itself information: the question is new to many of the people asking for your vote. The full set of statements, each verbatim and cited, is being gathered on the candidates’ own pages — start from the candidate directory.

Read it yourself

The strongest thing you can do with this question is read the material: the side-by-side of current law vs. the draft, area by area — with room to mark your own read on each; the draft’s provisions in Constitution 101, how the current structure came to be in History of Navajo Government 101, and why so much current law is hard to read at all in Seams in the Law.