The chair of the 35th Legislature Committee on Rules and Judiciary recently wrote a letter urging the Senate body to meet and act at once “to address the status of the Election System.” Now, Sen. Diane Capehart says she is modifying that request in light of actions being taken by her Senate colleagues.
Capehart told the V.I. Source on Tuesday her call for a June 7 special session was no longer necessary since the body has already set June 12 as the date for that proceeding. At that time, lawmakers will consider changes to Title 18, Sec. 232 of the Virgin Islands Code. Their consideration follows a Jan. 10 ruling by Chief District Judge Robert Molloy declaring portions of Sec. 232 unconstitutional.
The judge’s ruling was the product of a legal challenge mounted by the V.I. Republican Party and the Republican National Committee. Party members told the court that sections of V.I. election law infringed on their Constitutional right to freely associate with fellow party members.
Now, five months after Molloy’s ruling, concerns are rising about how eliminating parts of Sec. 232 will affect the administration of the 2024 election cycle. At the time Capehart sent her request for a special session, signs of disruption were starting to appear.
“This matter would fall under my committee of jurisdiction. I asked for a meeting just to have a discussion with the Democratic chair and the Republican chair to find out what the Board of Elections is doing (and) what the parties are doing just for the people of the Virgin Islands to have a fair process,” Capehart said.
In her letter to Senate President Novelle Francis, the committee chairwoman expressed a need to act quickly.
“As you are aware, the Supervisor of Elections has been forced to postpone or cancel the casting of the lots due to concerns over the constitutionality of the current laws,” Capehart wrote on May 30. “According to Rule 501, I have circulated a petition to gain a consensus of the body necessary to take immediate steps to address the status of the Election System …“
But by June 4, elections officials were navigating their way through the permissible rules. The casting of lots, where candidates find out where their names will appear next to which ballot number, was held on a limited basis. Candidates vying for seats on the Boards of Elections and Education would get their assigned ballot numbers at a casting of lots rescheduled from May 30.
And the Legislature’s legal counsel was reviewing Molloy’s ruling on VIC Title 18, Sec 232. “Our legal counsel is preparing an opinion on that,” Capehart said.
The Rules and Judiciary Committee chairwoman said the legal counsel’s opinion is also valuable in light of amendments to the election laws now being proposed by her Senate colleagues.
