Media representatives, a few observers and staff members were in place for the 9 a.m. so-called emergency meeting at the St. Croix district Board of Elections office, but when Chairman Adelbert Bryan called the meeting to order at 10 a.m. he was the only board member present.
The only item on the agenda was to discuss the logistics of removing Sen. Alicia “Chucky” Hansen’s name from the Nov. 4 ballot in accordance with a V.I. Supreme Court ruling Friday evening.
It was Bryan who initiated the lawsuit to remove Hansen from the ballot due to “crimes of moral turpitude” – three convictions of willful failure to pay taxes. The case bounced between Superior Court and the Supreme Court before yesterday’s 66-page ruling. During the process, Hansen obtained a pardon from Gov. John deJongh Jr. in an effort to remain on the ballot. (See related links below.)
In Friday’s ruling, the V.I. Supreme Court ordered Caroline Fawkes, supervisor of Elections, to “immediately recall all ballots with Hansen’s name and replace them with ballots omitting her as a candidate – or to otherwise remove Hansen’s name from the ballot, such as by covering her name with an adhesive sticker.” (Supreme Court Hansen Order)
After the roll was called at 10 a.m. Bryan talked about options to replace ballots and other subjects for about an hour. At 11, board members Liliana Belardo de O’Neal and Roland Moolenaar arrived but added nothing to the discussion. Belardo de O’Neal said she “didn’t want to get into that,” and Moolenaar said his opinion was already on the record.
According to Bryan, Lisa Harris-Moorhead notified him before the meeting and said she would not attend without a lawyer. Board members Rupert Ross and Raymond Williams did not respond to the emailed meeting notice, Bryan said.
“The members are active parties in holding back the process,” Bryan said.
The only option is to print new ballots, according to Bryan. Since the DS200 voting machine is sensitive to any marks on the ballot, it would not read a ballot with tape over Hansen’s name, he said. According to Bryan, the V.I. Department of Property and Procurement could easily print new ballots for St. Croix without Hansen’s name in a few days.
Bryan answered questions from the media and members of the audience about the voting process. Regarding the more than 400 early voters, he said, none of the ballots had been tabulated, only stored in the locked voting machine. He suggested early voters could be notified through a press release and advised to return to the office and vote again. In that case, the current ballots would be put in storage. It was not clear how those voters who did not return would have their vote counted.
Asked about the continuation of early voting, Bryan said that without a quorum no decisions could be made until the joint boards meeting scheduled Monday. The office was open for voters Saturday.
Gwendolyn Whitaker, assistant supervisor of Elections, asked about putting rules for write-in voting on the record, but Bryan disallowed it. Voters can choose who they want, he said, but the votes won’t count if the candidate is not eligible to run.
“How can you vote for someone who is not eligible? That is not a vote for somebody,” he said.
