Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, right, gets instructions from Johnny R. Thompson as he signs in for early voting at the Navajo Election Administration office in Window Rock, Ariz. on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Lawmakers stripped Shirley of his administrative duties in late October over what some have argued is retaliation for his efforts to reduce the council from 88 members to 24. The back-and-forth between the legislative and executive branches has created a sense of instability in what is a relatively new form of government on the country's largest American Indian reservation. (AP Photo/Gallup Independent, Cable Hoover)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A Navajo tribal member is pushing to have an election that drastically reduced the size of the Tribal Council redone, this time with more support required from voters.

The election marked the first time Navajos voted on ballot initiatives. Voters overwhelmingly favored cutting the council from 88 members to 24 and giving the president a line-item veto.

But Tim Nelson of Leupp contends the Dec. 15 election violated Navajo law in that the initiatives passed without a majority vote in each of the tribe’s 110 precincts.

Nelson has filed a grievance against Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr.’s office and the petitioners. A spokesman for Shirley disputed the claims and says the grievance should instead be directed at the tribe’s election office.

It is scheduled to be heard Jan. 21 in Window Rock.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press