The Virgin Islands Board of Elections met on Monday for an emergency meeting in which it voted 8-1 to retain independent counsel in Brett “Mac” McClafferty’s lawsuit against the body. Following the vote, the board opted to consider agenda items originally slated for its July 22 regular meeting.
The discussion centered on procedural matters related to the upcoming Democratic primary election, including vote tabulation, election transparency, and the treatment of write-in candidates.
On the issue of election transparency, the board voted 8-3 to publicly post results tapes from DS200 electronic vote tabulators at each voting location after the polls close on Election Day.
According to the manufacturer, the DS200 is “a poll place ballot scanner and vote tabulator that combines the flexibility and efficiency of digital-imaging technology to support paper-based voting.” The machine supports ballots completed by hand as well as those marked using an electronic voting machine.
The measure was approved despite some members’ concerns that the publicly displayed tapes would be vulnerable to inclement weather or damage by the public.
“Once we shut down, and the Election Day officials are gone, [if] somebody tears it up, I’m not responsible. We’re not responsible,” said Chair Raymond Williams.
The board also approved a motion by member Kareem Francis to count all ballots, whether marked by hand or by an electronic voting machine, using the DS200 tabulator. The motion passed in a 7-3 vote, with members Barbara LaRonde, Harriet Mercer, and Cleopatra Peter voting ‘no’.
“When people do hand ballots, they want them to be counted by hand, and we need to respect that,” Peter said.
“I remember when I came home from the military many years ago, and this was being discussed on the legislative floor, and the supervisor of elections at the time laughed at the people who were testifying to the fact that they didn’t want their votes to go through the machine because of distrust … We should have a ballot box. I object,” LaRonde added.
In an apparent effort to remedy the members’ concerns, Francis then introduced a motion to implement an updated random audit policy for the territory’s DS200 vote tabulators.
“We’ve been talking a lot about distrust and about transparency. I believe the posting of those tapes is one step in that regard, but I believe once we implement a random audit policy – and we can go into details as to what that can look like – then people can start to feel more secure about when they cast their votes,” he said.
Although the Elections System already conducts an audit 30 days after each election, Francis proposed conducting one on a smaller scale as soon as the polls close on election night. The motion passed 10-1, with Mercer casting the lone vote against it.
The board then debated how exactly to alter the audit policy. Francis, along with several other members, favored running the ballots from randomly selected DS200 machines through a separate DS200 tabulator to confirm identical results are returned.
LaRonde raised an objection to the plan, citing her own experience running a write-in campaign in 2012. She said it was a hand count that proved she was voted for in that election.
“We have write-ins that we need to make sure are accounted for … the hand counting isn’t as treacherous as some of us would make it seem. In each machine, there’s only a limited amount of paper, and we are randomly selecting them,” she said.
Ultimately, the board decided to table the matter and revisit it at a later date. In a 9-1 vote, the board approved a motion directing Supervisor of Elections Caroline Fawkes to present options for updating the audit policy by July 27.
The board will next convene on Tuesday, July 28, to revisit the Elections System’s audit policy with the goal of making a final determination prior to the Democratic primary election on Aug. 1. Early voting in the Democratic primary began on Monday and will run until Wednesday, July 29.
For more information on how to vote early, visit the Elections System website.
