Feb. 25, 2002 – A St. Thomas man has gone to court to challenge new changes in the territory's electioneering law.
Hiram Abiff has filed a lawsuit in District Court on behalf of himself, his wife and son — and, he says, the voters of the Virgin Islands. "To me, the whole thing violates the law on freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of the press," he said in a telephone interview.
The bill bans political campaigning after 2 a.m. on election days. It was passed by the Legislature in December but vetoed by the governor last month; then the Senate overrode the veto. Lawmakers who supported its passage said they did so to discourage the raucous atmosphere that has greeted voters as they approach polling places.
But Abiff said, "It's a tradition in the Virgin Islands when election day comes to go down to the polls and scream your lungs out and who win, win and who lose, lose."
Abiff said he is suing the Legislature but also is directing a challenge to the Board of Elections supervisor, the attorney general and the Police commissioner as the agents who oversee, uphold and enforce the law.
Board of Elections Supervisor John Abramson said he had seen a copy of Abiff's lawsuit but hadn't yet spoken to the board's legal counsel. "He's taken us to court. I don't have any comment," he said.
