(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission Executive Director Leonard Gorman listens to the opinions of fellow Navajo Nation members regarding newly drawn redistricting proposals for San Juan County at hearings in Monticello and Bluff, November 16, 2017. The redistricting proposals would redraw voting districts to ensure significant American Indian majorities in two of three County Commission districts and on four of five school board voting districts as the result of a January 2012 lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by the Navajo Nation. The lawsuit seeks the redrawing of voting districts to reflect the 2010 U.S. Census. Last year, U. S. District Court Judge Robert Shelby ruled the voting districts in the sprawling southeastern Utah county, which today is home to 16,895 residents, are unconstitutional and violate the rights of American Indians. He ordered the county to redraw them.
Lee has worked at The Tribune since 2011. He previously was a reporter for 28 years at the Deseret News, including 18 years as its Washington, D.C., correspondent. He covers politics, transportation and demographics.