The St. Croix Elections board lost its quorum within the first 30 minutes of the meeting, but Chairman Adelbert Bryan conducted a meeting anyway, consisting of a few reports and discussion by the remaining three members Wednesday.
The dissension among board members occurred almost immediately, when Bryan rearranged the order of the agenda. Members Lisa Harris-Moorhead and Rupert Ross pointed out the board voted at the previous meeting to hear the monthly report from the elections supervisor first.
Harris-Moorhead said she had to leave in two hours and, since the board approved the measure, the supervisor should report first.
The supervisor can supply information the board needs to make decisions and should not “have to sit for two hours,” Harris-Moorhead explained.
Bryan said the agenda was sent out five days ago and he didn’t have the supervisor’s report at that time so he, as chairman, changed the order of the agenda.
After more back and forth, Harris-Moorhead left the meeting. Ross, who said he didn’t receive an agenda until the meeting, argued the board vote should be honored. He called for a quorum and also left.
“The meeting today cannot make any decisions with the members present,” Bryan said, referring to himself, Glen Webster and Roland Moolenar – the remaining members.
With a primary election in August, Bryan said the board and staff are planning how to lay out the polling sites. New this year a banner will be hung at each site during the primary and general elections with photos of the candidates.
A bill on the governor’s desk could create financial and logistical problems for the Elections board. If Gov. John deJongh Jr. signs Bill 30-0357, the board would be required to purchase electronic voting machines prior to the primary. The legislative measure directs the board to establish electronic voting machines, not the new paper ballot tabulator, DS-200, as the default voting apparatus.
Bryan speculated the bill would be vetoed by the governor because the language in the written bill and the bill approved by the Legislature differ as to when electronic machines should be in place – for the 2014 primary or the primary and general elections.
Bill 30-0357 also allows residents to vote early at the Elections offices, public libraries, courthouses, government owned senior centers or community centers designated by the district board. Early voting would begin 14 days before the election and end on the third day before balloting. The board did not discuss an early voting process.
Elections Supervisor Caroline Fawkes reported on preparations for the upcoming elections. Technicians to repair machines are being trained now and poll workers will be trained in July. She said policies and procedures need to be written describing duties for the Elections System and the Elections boards.
According to Fawkes, there are 63 potential candidates on St. Croix who have filed nomination petitions and papers as of Wednesday. May 13 is the last day papers can be submitted at the Elections office, she said. An elections schedule is on the website, www.vivote.gov.
There were 189 new voters registered in March, and July 2 is the last date to register to vote in this year’s elections. Administrative assistant Terrell Alexandre reported that registration outreach and demonstrations of new DS200 machines were conducted at a number of schools and U.S. Post Offices. According to Alexandre, several community organizations have requested public displays at their locations and those are being scheduled.
The Joint Board of Elections has a deadline at the end of May to respond to the attorney general’s investigative report, Fawkes said.
Bryan said the boards would need to meet in person to vote on various issues because they haven’t voted to vote over the phone or by videoconference.