Not enough board members showed up for the St. Croix Board of Elections meeting to reach a quorum Wednesday so several announcements were made but no votes were taken.
Lilliana Belardo de O’Neal, chairwoman, rescheduled the meeting, which had already rescheduled from Wednesday morning to afternoon, to Aug. 31.
Initially Lisa Harris-Moorhead, Adelbert Bryan and Belardo de O’Neal were present but Harris-Moorhead left shortly thereafter. Absent were Glenn Webster, Barbara Jackson McIntosh, Roland Moolenaar and Raymond Williams.
Genevieve Whitaker, Deputy Elections supervisor, read a report for Supervisor Caroline Fawkes and announced the casting of lots – numbers for placement on the general election ballot – will be drawn Thursday.
Absentee voters will be able to cast their votes starting Sept. 6 and ballots for overseas voters are scheduled to be mailed Sept. 16.
The Democratic primary election cost more than $72,000, Whitaker said, and voter turnout was less than 17 percent.
She also distributed the certified primary result for the St. Croix district.
The final tally from St. Croix voters gave incumbent Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett 1,968 votes to former Sen. Ronald Russell’s 321.
The Democratic senatorial candidates in November’s general election will be incumbent Sens. Kurt Vialet, 1,579; Novelle Francis, 1,497; Sammuel Sanes, 1,298; Nereida Rivera O’Reilly, 1,272; Kenneth Gittens 1,246; and newcomer Terrence Joseph, 779.
Carol Burke garnered 913 votes to be Democratic national committeewoman versus Sonia Boyce’s 856. Former Delegate Donna Christensen accrued 1,579 votes over Riise Richards’s 358 for state chair.
The Democratic territorial committee for the St. Croix district will be Ernest Morris, Jr., Peter Abrahams, Karen Chancellor, James Weber, Ronald Moorehead and Carolyn Burke.
During Wednesday’s meeting, there were several questions and opinions from the audience regarding general election procedures.
The St. Croix senatorial elections may fall in line with the last election in that there is already a challenge to the eligibility of a candidate who was eliminated in 2014. Former Sen. Alicia “Chucky” Hansen was ruled ineligible by the V.I. Supreme Court that year due to a conviction for failing to file taxes. She has since filed the necessary documents to be place on the ballot this year, but is being challenged by the Democratic Party, which is questioning whether the name she has filed is, in fact, her legal name.
Hansen, who had obtained a pardon from then Gov. John deJongh, Jr., ran a write-in campaign in 2014, but failed to win enough votes.
