Dear Source:
You have been arguing on something that is already in the laws with the V.I. Board of Elections. The laws are already clear on who has the right to vote. Our laws state that "Any United States citizen who is a qualified elector in the Virgin Islands is entitled to vote without regard to race or color with no literacy tests employed." The documents that are required for voter's registration are a U.S. Birth Certificate or U.S. Passport, Military Discharge form (DD214), or Naturalization Certificate, and a Social Security Card. These documents are not accepted in photocopy form, must be originals.
I did not bolster your scenario; it was already bolstered by conflicting statements. You stated in your scenario the supposed owner was a foreigner not a U.S. citizen. As a foreigner, the supposed owner could not vote, could not run for office and therefore would not have had "an impacting influence" on our future, if he did not fulfill the requirements of the laws of citizenship to begin with.
You seem to think we have a problem with foreigners somehow being able to vote. In all my years here I have never heard of this as a problem so I am not sure why you seem to think it is.
Now my question is, are you really arguing on who has the right to vote in the U.S Virgin Islands elections or who you think have the right to vote in the making of the upcoming new U.S. Virgin Islands constitution?
I would assume the laws to vote would apply to both equally, otherwise it would be discrimination to say you can vote for the VI elections but not the VI Constitution.
I do entirely agree with the last paragraph of your last posting. In addition to honor, compassion, and courage, honesty also needs to be added on to the qualities our officials should have and should display through their entire term.
Carol Berry
St. Thomas
Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
