Polling sites will be open across the territory Saturday morning for this year’s Democratic primary but Elections officials said they expect a light turnout.
Seven voting centers located territory-wide are expected to open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Election workers have spent the days leading up to the Primary setting up registration tables, stations of election judges, voter privacy stalls, and voting machines.
“We’re preparing and we’re prepared,” said Elections Supervisor Caroline Fawkes. “The primaries are the same; they just have less contests on it.”
Primary ballots feature two contests apiece in the St. Thomas-St. John District and in the St. Croix District. Candidates for the Board of Elections and the Board of Education are on the ballot in St. Thomas-St. John. A different set of Elections board hopefuls appear on the St. Croix ballot along with 12 candidates vying for seven spots on the General Election ballot for the 36th Legislature.
Voter interest in the Senate race is expected to drive greater activity on the big island. Deputy Elections Supervisor Terrell Alexandre says he expects to see 1,000 voters turn out there on Saturday. Races for two less prominent public boards in St. Thomas-St. John are expected to draw a modest turnout, Alexandre said.
Those voting Saturday will join the 1,129 citizens who casted ballots during early Primary voting held in July. The big change voters showing up at polling sites will see is the absence of contests for internal officeholders serving the territory’s major political parties.
That change is the result of a court ruling in a lawsuit filed by the Virgin Islands Republican Party and the Republican National Committee. Party officials argued that portions of the Virgin Islands Code violated the U.S. Constitution and in a January ruling, Chief District Judge Robert Molloy agreed.
As a result, V.I. Republicans and Democrats are now tasked with conducting their own internal elections for state party chair, national committee representatives, and territorial committee office holders. Unaffiliated voters will no longer see those choices appearing on Primary ballots, Alexandre said.
Voting takes place at the Julius E. Sprauve School on St. John; the Elridge Blake Sports and Fitness Center at the University of the Virgin Islands Orville Kean Camus; at Charlotte Amalie High School and the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School on St. Thomas; at the St. Croix Educational Complex, the D.C. Canegeta Recreation Center and the Rotary West Community Center in Frederiksted on St. Croix.
And for those who meant to cast their votes in person on Saturday but met with circumstances that prevented it, absentee ballots can be obtained up to 5 p.m. on Saturday, the elections supervisor said.
