The St. Croix Board of Elections met briefly Friday to receive draft copies of an audit documenting how funds awarded to the Virgin Islands under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 were spent.
The audit was compiled by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Inspector General on behalf of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
The report was not made public at the meeting as it is still in draft form, but Board Chairman Adelbert Bryan circulated a copy of the cover letter that accompanied the report, written by Curtis Crider, inspector general of the EAC.
The letter called on the V.I. Board of Elections to send comments on the report by Sept. 16, 2013. If no comments are received, the EAC would publish the existing draft as the final report.
Bryan said that the report would be made public after it was finalized.
The letter went on to say that the finalized report would be forwarded to the EAC’s acting executive director and an “exit conference” would be scheduled with the V.I. Board of Elections to discuss the contents of the report.
Bryan explained that the reason the report was kept secret during the comment phase was because those named in the report had not yet had a chance to challenge any assertions made in the document.
“They give the opportunity for the respondents to respond in case something is erroneous or misrepresented,” he said.
Shortly after calling the meeting to order, the board moved into executive session to discuss how they wished handle their responses.
After a brief discussion, Bryan announced that board members could respond individually to the EAC and he would not ask them to forward their comments through his office.
“I’m not the final arbiter on what they say to respond to this,” he said.
Bryan said the audit covered the years 2003 to 2013, so many people not currently on the board or employed by the V.I. Elections System are mentioned. He said he had no authority to force those people to respond to the report and it would be up to them to cooperate of their own volition.
“I can’t order … anybody to come in and give us information. We are not the investigative arm of this report,” he said.
Bryan, Liliana de O’Neil and Glenn Webster were the only board members present for the meeting. Members Rupert Ross, Lisa Harris-Moorhead, Raymond Williams and Roland Moolenar were absent.
The board will meet again on Wednesday to discuss budget matters.
