Election

Board Votes to Send Lorelei Monsanto Formal Disqualification Notice as Third Circuit Appeal Continues

The Virgin Islands Board of Elections voted Tuesday to formally notify aspiring candidate Lorelei Monsanto why she will not appear on the November general-election ballot, even as she continues pursuing a federal appeal challenging the framework under which her Democratic candidacy was excluded. Ms. Monsanto had filed in May as a Democratic aspirant for the Virgin Islands Legislature in the St. Thomas-St. John District, according to the Elections System’s official aspirant listing. The Elections System’s current November 3 sample ballot does not include her among the candidates for the Legislature. Her ballot dispute is also before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit as part of litigation brought with Shelley A.H. Moorhead and Collister M. Fahie. Court records show the appeal was docketed as No. 26-2470 in June, with the three plaintiffs challenging election-related restrictions they contend unlawfully affected their access to the ballot. Earlier this month, the appell...