Election officials will hold a series of outreach events throughout St. Croix in the coming months, targeting schools, post offices, shopping areas and other places in an effort to get as many residents as possible registered to vote.
And one of the first events on the schedule will be a voter registration event at the ceremonies marking Emancipation Day, July 3, in Frederiksted.
Board member Dodson James told fellow members about the outreach committee’s plans during the board’s regular meeting Wednesday morning. While James said a schedule has not been completed, board member Adelbert Bryan suggested adding the Emancipation Day drive. His motion passed unanimously.
James added that people need to be aware of the documents required to vote. More people are turned away because they don’t have the legally required documents than for any other reason.
A resident who qualifies to vote in the U.S. Virgin Islands can register if they present either a birth certificate, a U.S. passport, a military discharge form or a naturalization certificate. The actual documents must be presented, not a photocopy. And by law, James added, a driver’s license is not acceptable.
James went on to say that the outreach program will counterbalance another routine operation of the Elections System: purging the voter rolls of expired voters.
Under V.I. law, a registration can be cancelled if the person hasn’t voted in the last two general elections. James said 3,766 letters of cancellation have been sent out to St. Croix residents. They have 30 days in which to appeal the cancellation. That appeal must be made in person or in writing, and not by telephone or e-mail.
