May 20, 2002 – Election reform took a tiny step forward on Monday with the formalization of an initiative for electing legislators to numbered seats, rather than the free-for-all that now exists. The initiators, a loosely organized group calling themselves the V.I. Committee for Election Reform, got 1 percent of the registered voters in both districts to sign a petition asking for the numbered seats.
On Monday, a "titling board" consisting of Elections Supervisor John Abramson, Attorney General Iver Stridiron and Legislative Counsel Yvonne Tharpes met to draft the wording of the initiative. It calls for seven numbered seats in the St. Thomas/St. John district and seven others in the St. Croix district. The 15th senator will be elected at large by voters territorywide but must reside on St. John — as is now the case.
"We can only hope it's a step to better representation," St. John resident Steve Black said, noting that the proposal will benefit St. Thomas and St. Croix residents. However, Black, long a proponent of town councils, said numbered seats won't get St. John the representation it deserves.
St. Croix resident Arnold Golden, who said he also favors municipal councils, said that the numbered seats are what are allowed under the 1954 Revised Organic Act. He said the territory could write its own constitution including a provision for local government, but previous attempts have failed.
Abramson said he expects to fine tune the draft within a week. The organizers then have 180 days to get 10 percent of the registered voters in the St. Thomas/St. John district and 10 percent those on St. Croix — or else 41 percent of all registered voters across the territory — to sign a petition calling for the change to numbered seats.
If they are successful in collecting the required numbers of signatures, the petition then will go to the Legislature, which has 30 days to vote yes or no on the initiative. If they vote yes, it becomes law. "If they vote no, it goes on the ballot," Abramson said. And it that's the scenario, a total of 50 percent plus one of the registered voters in the territory then have to give their approval for it to become law. Golden, who is a member of the Committee for Legislative Reform, said that even if the Legislature turns the initiative down, enough voters will give their approval.
"People on St. Croix are so disgusted, we will prevail," he said.
Abramson said the territory has 50,481 registered voters — 23,539 on St. Thomas, 1,587 on St. John and 25,355 on St. Croix.
Golden said that in most mainland jurisdictions, initiatives need 50 percent plus one of the votes cast to pass, not 50 percent plus one of the registered voters. He said the Committee for Legislative Reform is already working on its public relations campaign.
Abramson said that no previous initiatives have made it through the process. "At some point in the process, it always fell short," he said. Golden envisions that each candidates will decide what seat he or she wants. Since there likely would be more than one candidate from each party seeking each seat, who gets to run in the general election will be decided via a primary.
The last formal effort to change the makeup of the Legislature, a proposal sponsored by Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg to reduce the number of senators to nine from the current 15, was defeated in the Senate.
Donastorg said Monday that he has "no problem" with numbered seats but repeated his call for a reduction in the number of senators as well. He vowed to reintroduce his legislation, saying it is up to the people to decide the makeup of the Legislature. "People need to be respected. People are the government," he said.
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