This story says that Virgin Islands election officials haven’t finished counting ballots. One reason the process is taking longer is because there are many write-in votes for State Senator Alicia “Chucky” Hansen, an incumbent who was removed from the ballot by the Virgin Islands Supreme Court on October 24. Hansen supporters printed up stickers and distributed them to voters. Most states no longer permit stickers. A “sticker” is a type of write-in, in which the voter glues a sticker to the ballot instead of literally writing in the name of the candidate.
Hansen was removed from the ballot because ten years ago, she had not filed territorial income tax returns. The Governor had pardoned her earlier this year, and a federal court had ruled she should be on the ballot, and she had been on the ballot in each of the past two previous elections. But that didn’t stop the Virgin Islands Supreme Court from removing her. The Virgin Islands charter says the legislature shall be the “sole” judge of the qualifications of its members, but that didn’t phase the Virgin Islands Supreme Court either.
I agree content this Ms. Hansen has a right to be listed on the ballot, and then, if elected, the Territorial Legislature or the Courts can determine her fate.
Sounds like from reading about some her spoken positions on issues, she might find better company among the ruling party in North Korea.
According to the article, politics in the Virgin Islands is a mixed bag to say the least.
It is strange, in the gubernatorial election, 3 Independents had won 64.27% of the vote, while the lone partisan candidate, the Democrat, had only 35.73% of the vote. It also appeared the Governor’s race would be won by one of the Independents.
Yet, in the Delegate To Congress race, the Democratic nominee had a whopping 90.45% of the vote, while the only Republican candidate had a mere 9% of the vote. No Independents apparently ran for this office.
At least it can be said, that no one party dominates politics in the Virgin Islands. Too bad we can say the same for politics here in the States.