After hours in executive session, the St. Thomas/St. John District Board of Elections voted Friday to name Angel Bolques the administrative assistant for the Election System.
The 4-3 vote was taken anonymously, according to district board chairman Arturo Watlington, Jr., who said Bolques’ salary is still under negotiation.
The discussion of the administrative assistant began under tense conditions, with board member Harry Daniel calling the board’s attention to an email he received from Elections Supervisor Caroline Fawkes regarding his vote on the matter.
Daniel’s vote, which was handed by Watlington to St. Thomas Deputy Elections Supervisor Nefrediezha Barbel, raised Fawkes’ doubts on whether the signature on the paper was indeed that of Daniel.
According to Daniel, Fawkes said in her email that she forwarded Daniel’s submission to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to V.I. Attorney General Vincent Frazer’s office for handwriting analysis, and that she had acquired a sample of Daniel’s signature from the National Guard files.
“I feel that there is no way on God’s earth that the supervisor of elections has the right to determine whether it’s my signature or not,” said Daniel, adding that Fawkes’ acquisition of the signature sample by poring through his files was a violation of his rights.
Fawkes also said, Daniel added, that Governor John deJongh will be informed of the results of the investigation.
Voting Machines and Voter Registration
According to Fawkes, eight more voting machines – DS 200s – have been purchased at $49,000 in total. Five of those machines will be used in the St. Thomas-St. John district, while three are going to St. Croix.
The board also decided on five technicians to oversee the use of the new voting machines during the coming elections. Of the five, two will be assigned to St. Thomas, two to St. Croix and one to St. John. The names of the technicians have not yet been released.
“They will be training for one week on St. Croix to get exposure and understanding on what the technical situation is with these equipment that we will be using,” said Watlington.
The district board also considered requests for a demonstration of voting machines, and will set up a machine at the southeastern end of the Carnival village on St. Thomas starting Monday. Watlington clarified that machines used for demonstration will not be used in the actual elections.
The board approved the following requests for demonstrations of the voting machines in the following dates and locations:
• Voting machine demonstration and voter registration at 6 p.m. May 5 at the Curriculum Center on St. Thomas, during a Delta Sigma Theta meeting;
• Voting machine demonstration and voter registration from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 13 at the Veteran’s Park on St. Thomas;
• Voting machine demonstration and voter registration from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 10 on St. John.
Supervisor’s Report
Fawkes reported to the board that the Election System has registered 107 voters in March alone, and voter registration drives continue. Fawkes stressed that individuals and organizations are encouraged to come to the Election System with requests for voting machine demonstrations and voter registration drives.
As of Friday, according to Fawkes, 51 nomination packages have been received by the Election System, the deadline for which is May 13.
Representatives from the Election Assistance Commission will come to St. Thomas in May regarding the recent audit done on the Election System’s use of Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, funds, according to Fawkes.
Her office continues to look at an ADA-compliant headquarters on St. John, said Fawkes. Working with the Office of Property and Procurement and a budget of $20,000 to $30,000, the Election System has asked a St. John marketplace manager to submit a proposal for the space.
Polling Place Moved
According to Watlington, Tutu Park Mall has agreed allowed the Election System to use its premises for the primary and general elections.
The board discussed moving both the Joseph Gomez Elementary School and Curriculum Center polling places to Tutu Park Mall, but reconsidered upon learning the number of voters using each polling place: 1,642 using the Curriculum Center and 2,361 using Gomez School.
The board eventually approved moving only the Curriculum Center polling station to Tutu Park Mall.
