Navajos are voting Tuesday in a rare referendum that could loosen the requirement for presidential hopefuls to speak the tribe's language.
Candidates for president and vice president must understand Navajo and speak it fluently. It's a requirement that can be enforced by tribal courts.
A "yes" vote on the referendum lets individual Navajos decide if those candidates speak and understand Navajo well enough to hold office, starting with the 2018 election.
Lawmakers approved the vote after changes to the fluency requirement failed through other legislation. A candidate in the most recent presidential election had been disqualified for failing to prove he met the requirement.
More than 122,000 Navajos are registered to vote Tuesday. Tribal members have voted on a handful of referendums in the past.
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