77.9 F
Cruz Bay
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsLocal governmentEleven Political Aspirants Disqualified for Ballot Spots

Eleven Political Aspirants Disqualified for Ballot Spots

The man who has served as the state chairman of the Virgin Islands Republican Party will not be allowed to seek reelection after officials at the territory’s elections system disqualified him. St. Croix Republican John Canegata was one of 11 people whose applications to appear on ballots as candidates for public office were rejected.

Eleven political aspirants were culled from the 2022 voting season list. (Source file photo)

Among the aspirants turned away was a candidate for the governor’s race who filed an application without naming a lieutenant governor. Andrew Marrero from the St. Croix district was disqualified by the elections system as they completed the process of certifying all applications.

Canegata served in an official capacity for the territory’s Republicans since 2012. He is the subject of a complaint filed in District Court by representatives of the Republican National Committee over alleged trademark infringement. Complainants are seeking an injunction, and a hearing is scheduled to be heard by Chief District Court Judge Robert Molloy on Wednesday morning.

Shortly after releasing a list of aspirants who filed by the May 17 deadline, Deputy Elections Supervisor Terrell Alexandre said omitting a partner candidate for the lieutenant governor’s race was considered a defect.

Two applications in the St. Thomas-St. John District and nine in the St. Croix district were disqualified. Four Democrats and seven Republican aspirants’ names will not appear on ballots in the 2022 election season unless they appear as write-ins. Races that saw some candidates culled from the list included the Board of Elections, Board of Education, state chairman, political party territorial committee seats, and the governor’s race.

No hopefuls for the 35th Legislature in either district were affected.

One elections system official said two or three of those rejected asked to have their applications withdrawn before final decisions were made. “Most were issued a notice of defect. They were given three days to respond, and they didn’t respond,” said Alexandre on Tuesday.

St. Thomas-St. John-Water Island District Deputy Supervisor Kevermae Douglas said the reasons for disqualification varied. The candidate may not have gathered the proper number of signatures for their petitions; they may have failed to have required pages in the submission set notarized. It also may have been a discrepancy between the information contained in the elections system database and the information appearing on their application form.

Some applications may have had multiple errors, Douglas said.

The official listing released by the system on Tuesday named the following disqualifications:

Randolph Bennett, Board of Education

Andrew Marrero, Governor

Emerito Torres, Board of Elections

Jeanette Guzman, Board of Elections

John Canegeta, Republican Party State Chairman

Humberto O’Neal, Territorial Committee (At-Large seat)

Valerie Stiles, Territorial Committee (district seat)

Jose C. Nieves, Territorial Committee (district seat)

George H. Byam, Territorial Committee

Kwame Garcia Sr., Territorial Committee (At-Large seat)

Humberto O’Neal Accepted for Terr. Committee (district seat)

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.