The results of last week’s Senate election came into better focus Monday as elections officials finished counting paper ballots in both districts. Some doubt still remains, however, as mail-in absentee ballots continue to arrive.
In both districts, the candidates in the top seven positions have stayed the same since the electronic vote tally was announced on election night.
In the St. Thomas/St. John district, Clifford Graham is leading the race with 7,550 votes, followed by Myron Jackson with 5,172 votes, Sen. Shawn-Michael Malone with 5,099 votes, Sen. Janette Millin-Young with 4,800 votes, Clarence Payne with 4,234 votes, Tregenza Roach with 4,128 votes, and Donald “Ducks” Cole with 3,573 votes.
In the St. Croix district Sen. Alicia “Chuckie” Hansen leads with 5,303 votes, followed by Sen. Sammuel Sanes with 4,991 votes, Judi Fricks-Buckley with 4,975 votes, Sen. Nereida Rivera O’Reilly with 4,596 votes, Diane Capehart with 4,297 votes, Sen. Terrence “Positive” Nelson with 4,195 votes, and Kenneth Gittens with 3,658 votes.
Sen. Craig Barshinger maintained a large lead in the at-large race with 11,613 votes to Wilma Marsh-Monsanto’s 5,459.
These totals are still preliminary, as hundreds of absentee ballots remain uncounted.
In the St. Thomas/St. John district, elections officials have tallied walk-in absentee ballots and included them in their results, but they have not begun counting mail-in absentee ballots.
Board of Elections member Larry Boschulte said that approximately 150 mail-in absentee ballots had been received, and a similar number were mailed out and as yet have not been returned.
Absentee voters have until 10 days after the election to submit their ballots. That means that the total number of absentee votes will not be known until Friday.
These absentee ballots could prove critical in the St. Thomas/St. John race as Lawrence Olive, with 3,513 votes, is trailing Cole by only 60 votes for the seventh and final senatorial seat. Odds of him catching Cole are slim, but well within the realm of possibility.
In the St. Croix district, neither the walk-in nor mail-in absentee ballots have been counted. Board Chairman Rupert Ross said they would begin counting these ballots on Wednesday.
He did not have an exact total of the absentee ballots, but estimated the number at around 500. As such, they likely will not have an impact on the race. Sen. Neville James, currently in eighth place with 2,991 votes, is trailing Gittens by 667 votes.
That would make James the third incumbent senator to be voted out this election, along with Sens. Ronald Russell and Patrick Simeon Sprauve.
Russell, who stood in 14th place on election night, received only 86 additional votes through the paper ballots, dropping him to 15th.
Sprauve failed to make the general election ballot after finishing outside of the top seven in the democratic primary.
The St. Croix district also announced an updated tally for the board of elections race.
Lilliana Belardo de O’Neal continues to lead with 3,937 votes, followed by Lisa Harris-Moorhead with 3,087 votes, Ronald L. Moolenaar with 2,419 votes, and Glen Webster with 2,076.
Epiphane Joseph remains in fifth place, though she has trimmed Webster’s lead considerably, from 473 votes on election night to just 122 votes now.
As with the Senate race, the walk-in and mail-in absentee ballots have not yet been counted for this race.
The St. Thomas/St. John district has not yet released updated number for their board of elections race.
Representatives from both districts said they planned to continue counting on Tuesday. The boards have until Nov. 21 to certify the election.
