In a last minute amendment Thursday, the V.I. Legislature mandated the Joint Board of Elections to select, fund, purchase, receive and use a third set of machines in this fall’s elections.
The measure sponsored by Sen. Donald Cole mandates “beginning with the 2014 primary election and all election elections (sic) thereafter, the Joint Boards of Election shall adopt for use as the primary voting system in the Virgin Islands direct recording electronic voting machines.” It defines the acceptable type of machine as one which “records votes by means of a ballot display provided with mechanical or electro-optical components that can be actuated by the voter,” and that produces a “voter-verified paper audit trail.”
On its face, this language would appear to ban the use of the territory’s new DS-200 vote tabulators. thus banning the new machines. But the measure specifies that it “may not be construed to disallow the (Election Assistance Commission) certified DS-200 voting machines.”
The DS-200 paper ballot tabulators made by ES&S were a pet project of St. Croix District Board of Elections Chairman Adelbert Bryan, who spearheaded a campaign against the old, 1980s-vintage Danaher Electronic 1242 machines, saying they are unreliable and can possibly be manipulated. Despite many public claims, no evidence that they could actually be manipulated or that they ever had been manipulated was been presented. Bryan ran for and won a seat on the St. Croix Board of Elections on a platform of replacing the old machines.
The new tabulators have two advantages over the old machines: It has a paper ballot you hold in your hand, which is reassuring to some, especially those concerned about massive conspiracies to rig elections; and they produce a voter-verified paper trail, because the voter must fill out the ballot, which the machine will reject on the spot if it is filled out wrong, and the ballot is stored.
The old machines print a tape only after the voting is done, so there is no way for voters to see for themselves that the machine counted their votes properly.
Introducing the measure, Cole said the new voting tabulators were “really paper ballots,” not voting machines, and that most V.I. voters did not ally or agree with Bryan and his followers’ attachment to paper ballots. He also said that neither the old machines nor the new tabulators were physically able to comply with V.I. law requiring pictures of candidates to be displayed with the ballot.
Several senators said they were sympathetic to the issues Cole raised but questioned whether Elections had the money or enough time to select and purchase another set of machines before the primary or general elections. Cole said the EAC had about $1 million in election funding.
Asked for comment, Legislative Post Auditor Jose George said elections “should” have access to that sum.
Sen. Terrence “Positive” Nelson said Elections was facing some issues with ADA compliance and, without testimony, the Senate could not be certain the mandate was actually funded.
Sen. Craig Barshinger said he supports the measure, adding, “I see no evidence it could actually happen” before the election.
When some suggested having the measure go to committee for testimony and debate, others said any delay would make it impossible to enact because it would violate federal law disallowing changes to election laws six months before the election.
Voting in favor of Cole’s proposal were Cole, Sens. Clifford Graham, Alicia “Chucky” Hansen, Myron Jackson, Shawn-Michael Malone, Clarence Payne, Tregenza Roach and Janette Millin Young. Voting nay were Nelson, Sens. Judi Buckley, Kenneth Gittens, Nereida “Nellie” Rivera-O’Reilly and Sammuel Sanes. Barshinger and Sen. Diane Capehart abstained.
The measure was passed as an amendment to another piece of legislation. That bill, sponsored by Gittens, would give voters the right to vote early at their elections office, starting 14 days and ending three days before the election.
