Following prayers, as the Second Sitting of the Second Session of the 14th 
Legislative Council of the Virgin Islands began, the election of a Deputy 
Speaker was the first order of business.

The post became vacant after former Deputy Speaker Hon. Reeial George 
resigned when he was appointed a Minister last month.
Chief Minister Hon. Ralph T. O'Neal nominated Hon. Mark Vanterpool for the post, while Leader of the Opposition National Democratic Party (NDP) Dr. the Hon. Orlando Smith nominated his colleague Territorial-at-Large 
Representative Hon. Ronnie W. Skelton.

The Speaker made a decision to discard the first vote after the Opposition 
Leader insisted that it be done according to Standing Orders.
Initially, each Member placed their votes into an envelope which was passed around by the Clerk.

The accepted procedure called for each member to take their votes to the 
front of the House and place them into a declared ballot box.
At first count, Hon. Vanterpool was declared the winner 7-4.
This was disputed by the Opposition Leader and after a recount, it was 
discovered that another vote for Hon. Skelton was stuck in the 
envelope/ballot box.

The final count was 7-5 in favour of Hon. Mark Vanterpool. He then took the 
Oath of Allegiance as the new Deputy Speaker of the 14th Legislative Council.