In a move that mirrors the ongoing presidential election debacle on the mainland, Raymond "Usie" Richards is requesting a recount of absentee ballots that unofficially showed he missed St. Croix’s seventh Senate seat by 25 votes.
The absentee ballots were tallied Saturday afternoon on St. Croix to break the tie for the seventh Senate position between Usie Richards and Sen. Vargrave Richards.
Both men tallied 3,936 votes in the general election. Although elections officials haven’t officially declared who won the last Senate seat as a result of the absentee ballots, unofficial results showed that Sen. Richards edged his cousin Usie Richards 4,082 to 4,057.
Despite remarks to the media Saturday night that conceded the election to Sen. Richards, Usie Richards hand-delivered his request for a recount to the Elections System’s office Sunday.
In his recount petition, Usie Richards, who chairs the Joint Boards of Elections, said that ballot-counting procedures adopted by the St. Croix Board of Elections were not followed Saturday.
"Specifically, it was agreed that the person designated as the 'caller' of the votes on the Absentee Ballots was supposed to sit at the main table where upon the Candidates or their designated 'Poll Watcher' would have an opportunity to oversee the ballots as they were announced," Usie Richards wrote in his petition.
He said that after about 200 ballots were counted, he positioned himself to have a view of the ballots as the votes were announced. Along with another poll watcher, Usie Richards said at least two "discrepancies" were observed that resulted in a corrected ballot announcement.
"It is my position that since the result of the count on Saturday suggested that I am 25 votes behind the seventh place finisher that a recount of all the Absentee Ballots should be conducted," he wrote. "This request is based solely on the action of the St. Croix District Board to allow the count to continue without making adequate accommodations for 'Candidates' or their designated 'Poll Watchers' to review the ballots as they were being counted."
Usie Richards also requested two additional checks, including a review of all the people who voted by absentee ballots to determine whether they qualify and a re-tabulation of electronic cartridges used in voting machines. He said that would determine a reason for the difference between the order of the candidates on the night of the general election and the poll-by-poll printouts.
The St. Croix Board of Elections is scheduled to meet Monday, and Usie Richards said he hoped his recount petition would be considered.
"These matters require expeditious investigation and corrective actions be taken before any certification of the results of the 2000 general election is declared," he said.
