The St. Croix Board of Elections voted Wednesday to reject calls for recounts or new elections from three losing St. Croix district candidates on the grounds that their petitions fail to meet the minimum legal threshold for such actions.
The board members looked at petitions filed by congressional candidate Warren Mosler, who received 17 percent of the vote to Delegate Donna Christensen’s 60 percent; St. Croix Senate candidate Naomi Sandra Joseph, who came in 11th place with 2,500 votes and three losing candidates ahead of her; and St. Croix Board of Elections candidate Krista Schluderman, who came in sixth out of six candidates, with one losing candidate ahead of her.
Congressional candidate Norma Pickard Samuel’s request sent by email for either a recount or a new election was rejected without debate because it was not signed in the presence of a notary before delivery, as required by V.I. law.
Board Chairman Rupert Ross passed around printouts of the V.I. law regarding recounts.
That law, found in V.I. Code Title 18, section 629, requires, along with a notarized complaint, "that the petitioner has reason to believe and does believe that the records or copies of records made by the election officers at one or more polling places in such district are erroneous, specifying wherein he deems such records or copies thereof to be in error or that votes were cast by persons not entitled to vote therein, and that he believes that a recount of the ballots cast in the district will affect the nomination or election of one or more candidates voted for at such primary or election."
"I would ask the board members to keep that section in mind when considering these petitions," Ross said.
The board took a recess for 15 minutes to allow members to read over the petitions and the law. At the outset, Ross asked if any members believed any of the three petitions met the law’s minimum threshold for a recount. No one said yes.
Schluderman’s request said, "Board of Elections ballots have been found mixed in with ballots for other elected positions. I have become unsure of the accuracy of the first count performed by the Board members due to this error of misplaced ballots."
Board member Raymond Williams said he remembered the ballots in question and they were counted properly, but were briefly placed in the wrong pile after counting.
Ross agreed, saying: "They counted the ballots then put them in the wrong box."
As to whether it affected the election or gave cause for a recount, Ross said, "It may be a valid observation (that the ballots were in the wrong pile), but if we know there is a valid explanation we can act accordingly."
Aside from having a known explanation, the ballots in question were few in number, so even had there been a problem with the count, it would not have affected the outcome, he said.
Board member Dodson James agreed, saying that there was “one ballot, counted properly and put in the wrong pile. That in no way justifies a new election."
Board member Adelbert Bryan suggested the board have Schluderman come and testify to what she saw, prompting member Lisa Harris Moorhead to ask whether Bryan was saying it, or any of the other requests, met requirements of the law.
"I thought we just made an inquiry … and no one said they did," Moorhead said.
Mosler challenged the election saying he had two surveys showing himself losing by smaller margins than his actual loss, and had anecdotal evidence that his support was growing.
Joseph made an array of allegations concerning the amount of voter education on paper ballots, the placement of party symbols on the ballot, and that the voting machines were not federally certified – which is not required by federal law, but is required by a recent V.I. law.
After a short discussion, Moorhead said Joseph’s complaints did not address any of the legal requirements for approving a recount. Moorhead moved all the petitions be denied "for lack of specificity" and "failure to meet the requirements" of the law.
Voting to dismiss the complaints were Ross, Williams, Moorhead, James and Ana Davila. Bryan voted nay and Carmen Golden was absent.
The St. Thomas St. John Board of Elections will meet at 3 p.m. Thursday to address St. Thomas/St. John election challenges from Mosler, Samuel, Senate candidate Lawrence Olive, and Board of Elections candidates Harriet Mercer and Diane Magras.
After the vote, Ross distributed a report summarizing blank and spoiled paper ballots. Each election had a separate paper ballot. There were 681 spoiled ballots, of which 511 were Senate ballots.
"If you look at the spoiled ballot report, even if any one of the candidates got all the votes on the spoiled ballots, none of the challengers would have gotten more votes than the person ahead of them," Ross said.
Seventh place senate candidate Kenny Gittens received 671 votes more than eighth place finisher Sen. Neville James, according to the certified results.
Blank ballots mostly occurred when voters would fill out a Senate or congressional ballot, but not bother with other races, Ross said. There were 4,887 blank ballots, of which 2,376 were for the at large Board of Education seat; 689 were for the Board of Elections contest; 641 were for the referendum on allowing a hemp industry; and the rest divided among the other races. Only 13 district Senate ballots were blank.
The board voted to authorize Ross to arrange a small breakfast or luncheon to say goodbye to several long-time members. Golden is leaving the board after serving for 40 years; Davila departs after 20 years; and James after 17 years. Several long-time Election System staffers are retiring too, Ross said.
