Elections Board's Mercer apologizes after dispute over poll watcher

ST. CROIX — The first week of early voting for the 2024 general election will come to a close on Friday after a rocky start that prompted an emergency meeting of the V.I. Elections Board.

The inciting incident was a dispute involving a poll watcher on Monday morning at the Elections System office in Lockhart Gardens. The board convened the following afternoon and immediately entered executive session to discuss the matter. Afterward, members voted to require that board member Harriet Mercer submit a written apology to the Elections System and several Elections officials or face a formal censure.

According to the V.I. Code, only one watcher per political party, body or independent candidate is allowed to remain inside polling places at any given time, and each watcher has to be given a certificate from the V.I. Elections Board. Mercer told The Daily News she arrived at the Elections System office on Monday morning — the first day of early voting for St. Thomas and St. Croix residents — to sign the certificates, but she was told they weren’t ready yet.