Dear Source:
As the time for election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention nears, I was dismayed that the Board of Elections (on their web site http://www.vivote.gov/index.htm ) has not yet given any information as to how prospective candidates for delegate may apply. Candidates for delegate to the Convention must present nomination papers by May 16, 2007 at 5PM. Nomination papers, from what I hear, are supposed to be available in March at the Board of Election offices on each island. The procedure to become a delegate is unclear at this time and it is hoped that the Board will update their website (as of this date, only the information for the 2006 general election is on the site) and include information on the upcoming recall procedures as well as the Constitutional Convention procedures. At a minimum, the Board should advertise in all local newspapers starting right away.
People have to be informed as to what is going on around them. We need information about the recall of Senators and the Convention given the fact that we have two of the most important special elections in the history of the Virgin Islands right around the corner.
On February 27, 2007 the petition signatures to recall four St Croix Senators will be turned over to the Board of Elections for a count and to ascertain that all the signatures are valid. The Board has fifteen days to accomplish this. After the votes are counted and approved, the Board has sixty days to place a ballot question before the electorate in a special election. Assuming the full measure of time is taken by the Board, the vote should occur on or about the end of May or beginning of June (assuming the weekends are exempt from the sixty day rule). At approximately the same time, Virgin Island voters will also be asked to vote for delegates to the Constitutional Convention. So, the electorate of the Virgin Islands has a huge task ahead of them in the spring and into the summer which will affect the political atmosphere of the Virgin Islands forever. We need to have as much information about these processes as possible and the government has a responsibility to get that information out, especially the Board of Elections. We can't afford to wait for the last minute and have an uneducated, ill-informed public.
Paul Devine
St. John
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