More uncertainty about the 2000 election in the Virgin Islands was stirred up this week, as Sen. George Goodwin filed a complaint against the St. Thomas-St. John district Board of Elections to prevent certification of the Nov. 7 general election.
Goodwin's complaint challenges the board over the methods by which it tabulated absentee ballots Saturday. The total of the absentee ballots put Sen. Lorraine Berry, a fellow Democrat, in the seventh senatorial seat and Goodwin out of the running in eighth place.
In the complaint filed by attorney Desmond Maynard, Goodwin stated that a total of 554 absentee ballots were counted and of that number, 480 were not postmarked. He also said that the board accepted absentee ballots that were contained in unsealed envelopes. "There can be no reasonable assurance that the results of the election reflected the will of the voters," the complaint said.
Goodwin is asking the court to order the election system not to certify the election results. He also wants the court to order that the questionable ballots, about 480, be thrown out and not counted and that any ballots received in unsealed envelopes be discarded as well.
The Territorial Court has not responded to Goodwin's complaint; the case reportedly will be assigned to a judge Friday. Like other local and federal government offices, courts were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
