“Chucky” Hansen Set To Launch Write-In Campaign

When the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands ordered that Sen. Alicia “Chucky” Hansen’s name be removed from the November 4 General Election ballot last Friday, it seemed that, after making the rounds through the court system and ultimately failing, Hansen was left with no alternatives in her bid to be elected as a Senator in the 31st Legislature.

However, according to her attorney, Lee Rohn, Hansen will soon launch a write-in campaign. Rohn made the announcement Monday on radio newsman, Alvin Gee’s afternoon broadcast.

“I have gone to the District Court and of course, the District Court has a period of time to respond to our motion, and has a lot of things on its plate, [and] it hasn’t acted yet,” Rohn said. “It’s one week before the election and I think it’s time [to launch a write-in campaign]. If the District Court rules, great, but in the meantime, I think it’s time to change course and Chucky will be launching a write-in campaign.”

The attorney went on to say the write-in presented the ideal opportunity for voters who feel disenfranchised to send a clear message to the court system.

“To all the voters who feel like their right to decide the candidate of their choice was taken from them by the court system, the way to make sure that the court system does not take their right to vote away from them is to write-in “Chucky” Hansen on the ballot,” Rohn offered.

She continued: “That includes any early voting, and that includes, of course, going to the polls on November 4. But anybody who wants to send a message to the court that says ‘you shouldn’t decide who is going to run for Senate, we should,’ should write in Chucky Hansen and make that statement loud and clear.”

On Friday, October 24, the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands ordered Elections Supervisor Caroline Fawkes to “immediately recall all general election ballots for the November 4, 2014 general election with Hansen’s name and replace them with ballots omitting her as a candidate, or to otherwise remove Hansen’s name from the ballot, such as by covering her name with a sticker.”

Complying with the court order, Fawkes has suspended all early voting in the District of St. Croix.

At a St. Croix Board of Elections meeting on Tuesday, where only three Board members — Adelbert Bryan, Roland Moolenaar and Glen Webster were present–Elections Supervisor Caroline Fawkes said she had requested and received a sample ballot without Hansen’s name on it. ES&S, the company which provided BOE with the DS200 voting machines, offered three suggestions to deal with the issue of Hansen’s name being removed from the ballot.

One suggestion was to remove the embattled senator’s name, but leave a blank space where her name had been. Fawkes displayed a sample ballot of that version, but it and the other suggestions were rejected by Bryan and the two other Board members at the meeting. They could not take an official vote for the record, however, because quorum was not met in the absence of four Board members.

Meanwhile, St. Croix Senator Nereida “Nellie” O’Reilly on Tuesday issued an emergency written notice to the Honorable Jack Smith, Chief, Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, requesting the Federal authority launch an investigation into the Virgin Islands Board of Elections.