St. Croix Board of Elections To Start Counting Run-Off Election Mail-In Absentee Ballots

The St. Croix Board of Elections has announced it will start counting the mail-in absentee ballots from the run-off election on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at the Elections System office on St. Croix beginning at 12 p.m.

Mail-in absentee ballots are expected to have no effect on the results of the November 18 run-off elections, as Kenneth Mapp, now Governor-elect, secured a landslide victory over Congresswoman Donna M. Christesen, winning by over 6,000 votes.

Christensen, on the night she was defeated, told her supporters that they should “hold their heads high,” and encouraged the entire territory to come together.

“This is a time for healing for the territory and all of you have offered yourself to be apart of a team that was all about unity, so we don’t want you to give up on that mission,” she said. “So, when we walk out tomorrow and the next day with our heads held high, we’re all going to need to be reaching out and embracing our opponents and the rest of the community because they’re going to need us. They’re going to need your good spirit, they’re going to need the hearts that are in each and everyone of you because there is a lot of work to be done.”

Later, in a moment of transparency, Christensen admitted her disappointment at the loss.

“You know, I can’t say that I’m not disappointed,” she said, garnering cheers and expressions of encouragement from the crowd. One supporter loudly chimed in, “I’m not disappointed; I’m heartbroken.”

Mapp, also speaking on the night he won the run-off election, said there would be “no scores to settle,” and encouraged the people of the Virgin Islands to come together and work for a better union.

“[Osbert and I] will start as the example setters,” Mapp vowed. “We said very early on that when this campaign is over, we’re not going hunting. We’re not hunters — farmers yes, hunters, no.”

“So,” he continued, “we’re going to reach across the aisle and make sure that those that were in other camps recognize that we respect their rights to choose and support whoever they wanted to support, and to do it without consequence.”