The St. Croix District Board of Elections still has not certified the results of its recount process for three unsuccessful candidates from the Nov. 4 General Election, even two days after they completed recounting votes. The board members and its team of talliers completed counting more than 14,000 ballots just after midday Thursday and wanted to compile the votes on a spreadsheet so they could comprehensively review the results, according to vice chairwoman of the board Lilliana Belardo de O’Neal. On Friday, O’Neal said the task of compiling the vote results into categories had taken the staff longer than anticipated, so she was just awaiting their completion before the board would be able to certify the results of the recount. As of late Friday, the compilation still had not been finished, and board member Raymond Williams said he did not know when the tabulations would be completed or when the board would be able to publish the results and certify the recount.
“It is still all really up in the air, but we know we need to get it done soon and we are ready to complete the process with the certification as soon as the compilation is done,” he said.
The district board approved requests to recount votes for Senators Alicia Hansen and Diane Capehart and Board of Elections candidate Epiphane Joseph, who each made unsuccessful bids for public office in last month’s election.
The board began counting votes Dec. 4, but denied public access to the count until they were taken to court by The Daily News, which was granted a restraining order and permanent injunction by V.I. Superior Corut Judge Harold Willocks, who ordered the board to make the recount open and accessible to the public for its duration.
Full Article: 2 days after completing recount, Elections struggling to certify it – News – Virgin Islands Daily News.