A federal judge Thursday temporarily halted the exclusion of candidates from primary ballots following a settlement agreement between the V.I. Democratic Party and the Elections System, its supervisor and the Board of Elections chairman.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month by independent candidate for Delegate to Congress Shelley Moorhead and 37th Legislature hopefuls Collister Fahie and Lorelai Monsanto, came on the heels of a mediated settlement agreement between the Virgin Islands Democratic Party and the V.I. Election System. At issue in that case was the Election System should play in party primaries, and attorneys later explained that, under the settlement agreement, the Democratic Party will be responsible for certifying candidates’ party membership while the Election System will be responsible for determining candidates’ statutory qualifications — such as making sure sure that they meet age, residency and citizenship requirements.
Moorhead, Fahie and Monsanto swiftly filed their own lawsuit, arguing that the Election System was going to use private party certification as a condition of ballot access. That makes the new framework particularly onerous for independent candidates, who are required to collect 200 voter signatures across two districts — and election officials reject signatures from “inactive” voters, who can still cast ballots in the election after confirming their identity and residency, according to the lawsuit.
On Thursday, visiting U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Savage partially granted the candidates’ request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking the Elections System from excluding candidates from primary ballots if they fail to satisfy certain requirements enshrined in the recent settlement agreement.
“The distinction Judge Savage is drawing is between a party deciding who they endorse — which is absolutely their right — and a party deciding who gets on the government’s ballot — which is a different matter entirely and implicates every voter’s right to a meaningful choice,” Moorhead told the Source.
Savage ordered the Elections System and board to preserve all certification records, nomination papers, certification materials and related correspondence “in their current state” pending further orders. The defendants were also ordered to preserve — “without rejection or disqualification” — all nomination petitions containing inactive voter signatures.
