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Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsLocal newsSt. Croix Voter Rolls to Lose About 2,000 Names

St. Croix Voter Rolls to Lose About 2,000 Names

More than 2,000 names are going to be removed from St. Croix’s voter rolls, the St. Croix Board of Elections learned Wednesday.

The reduction is caused by changes in the island’s population going back to the closure of the Hovensa refinery, Supervisor of Elections Caroline Fawkes told the board Wednesday at its monthly meeting at its Sunny Isle Annex office.

The island has lost thousands of residents since the Hovensa closure sent refinery families off island to find work in the oil industry. Fawkes estimated 2,000 names of St. Croix registered voters who did not go to the polls in 2012 or 2014 will be taken out of the system.

The 2,000 names would be 8.1 percent of the 24,566 people registered to vote on St. Croix in the November election. In that election voter turnout was 14.317, or 58.3 percent.

Fawkes also told the board that Evelyn Williams Elementary School, a polling station, will be closed for a year to a year and a half.

The board discussed plans for an Election Reform Town Meeting to be held June 23. The location for the meeting was not determined. Terrell Alexandre, Board of Elections administrative assistant, is looking into scheduling the meeting at John H. Woodson Junior High, St. Croix Educational Complex or the University of the Virgin Islands.

The board set a tentative date of Sept. 19 for an Election Expo, an informational expo on voting and casting ballots for high school students and the general public.

No motions were voted on and no official action was taken during the meeting.

Lilliana Belardo de O’Neal, Raymond Williams, Lisa Harris-Moorhead, Roland Moolenaar and Barbara Jackson McIntosh attended the meeting. Board members Adelbert Bryan and Glenn Webster were absent.
 

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