ST. CROIX — Former Water and Power Authority board member Jed JohnHope is appealing his disqualification from the race for delegate to Congress, arguing election officials failed to provide the notice required by law and denied him an opportunity to cure deficiencies in his nomination papers.
Attorney Terri Griffiths submitted an appeal Monday to the Virgin Islands Board of Elections and the Elections System of the Virgin Islands, challenging an announcement that JohnHope had been disqualified and would not appear on the ballot.
In an email sent on Monday to select Board of Elections members and candidates, and copied to select members of the press, Griffiths acknowledged that JohnHope did not submit enough signatures by the filing deadline but argued that Virgin Islands law entitled him to a three-day period to cure the deficiency after receiving formal notice.
“Mr. JohnHope met the filing deadline without enough signatures,” Griffiths wrote. “The BOE representatives, Terrell Alexandre and Ms. Johnson, directed him to wait until he received the statutory notice of deficiency and then turn in the remainder of the signatures within the three-day cure period as provided in Title 18.”
Griffiths contended that the required notice was never issued. She cited Title 18, Section 411(c) of the Virgin Islands Code, which states that when a nomination petition, nomination paper, or nomination certificate is found to be defective, “the candidate shall be notified immediately by special messenger with the reason or reasons therefor.” The law further provides that if a new, valid petition, paper or certificate is not filed within three days, the candidate shall be disqualified.
According to Griffiths, Supervisor of Elections Caroline Fawkes instead announced JohnHope’s disqualification through a press statement.
“Instead of the statutory notice pursuant to Section 411(c) by special messenger, Fawkes issued a press statement that he was disqualified,” Griffiths wrote. “Moreover, he was not afforded the opportunity to cure.”
Griffiths also referenced a May 27 email from Alexandre informing JohnHope that he had been disqualified.
The attorney further alleged that when JohnHope attempted to submit additional signatures with his appeal, Elections System staff declined to accept them.
“Ms. Johnson advised JohnHope that Terrell Alexandre instructed her not to accept any signatures,” Griffiths wrote.
Griffiths also contended that election officials improperly focused on the form of the nomination papers rather than their substance.
“The Election System’s concern appears to elevate form over substance,” Griffiths wrote. “The nomination papers submitted contained the information necessary to identify electors and verify signatures.”
Griffiths asserted that objections had been raised because signatures were not submitted on green paper, although she argued no provision of Virgin Islands law requires nomination papers to be printed on a particular color.
In her email to Board of Elections members, Griffiths asked the board to accept signatures submitted with the appeal and reverse the disqualification. She demanded a response by Friday, warning that JohnHope would otherwise pursue legal remedies.
On May 26, Fawkes, in response to an inquiry from WTJX, stated that JohnHope failed to obtain the signatures required to qualify for the ballot as a candidate for delegate to Congress. Fawkes said that she disqualified JohnHope because he submitted only three signatures from the St. Croix District and 28 signatures from the St. Thomas/St. John District. Candidates for delegate to Congress must obtain signatures from at least 100 qualified electors in each election district, for a minimum of 200 signatures territory wide.
JohnHope initially picked up nomination papers as an independent candidate for governor on April 24. On May 19, the final day of candidate filing, he picked up nomination papers for delegate to Congress at 11:14 a.m. and submitted his completed filing packet at 5:37 p.m., 23 minutes before the filing deadline.
JohnHope subsequently told WTJX that he was initially pursuing a gubernatorial run, but that his prospective running mate backed out the same day of the filing deadline.
“At that point we’re scrambling, trying to figure out what we’re going to do as a team,” he said. “And I picked up the congressional paperwork around noon that day.”
