The Virgin Islands Board of Elections met Wednesday for a lengthy special meeting in which it upheld prior decisions that disqualified Brett “Mac” McClafferty and Ida Smith from the 2026 delegate to Congress ballot.
Although the meeting was scheduled for 10 a.m., it did not convene until 10:32 a.m. as a result of a brief loss of power at the Elections System Office on St. Thomas that left one attendee stuck in an elevator.
At 10:46 a.m., board members moved to enter an executive session, estimating that it would last 50 minutes. The executive session lasted approximately two hours, concluding at 12:48 p.m. Chair Raymond Williams gave the following summary:
“The Board rose into executive session to discuss matters that were filed based on disqualifications by the Office of the Supervisor, specifically for Ida Smith and Mr. McClafferty. The Board took no action in the executive session. It was just a discussion where the Board was allowed to ask questions of Supervisor [Caroline] Fawkes on the value of the disqualifications,” he said.
McClafferty, who was disqualified from running for a seat in the Virgin Islands Legislature due to his status as a convicted felon, later shifted his political focus and began campaigning to be the territory’s Delegate to Congress. However, landing his name on the Delegate ballot has presented its own challenges.
On June 15, Supervisor of Elections Caroline Fawkes disqualified McClafferty from the delegate race following an investigation by the Elections System. According to Fawkes, the investigation was prompted by six complaints that alleged signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot were obtained through false or misleading representations.
McClafferty promptly appealed Fawkes’ decision, and argued that Fawkes did not have the authority to disqualify him from the ballot unilaterally, a position that at least two Board of Elections members also hold.
“I just want the public to know that six letters were sent to Supervisor Fawkes. They were not notarized. Some of them don’t have a signature, some of them don’t have a date, some of them don’t have a title, and I think that is wrong. I also think that investigative duties are for the Board with section 47 and 92 of title 18. Nowhere does it give the supervisor any kind of authority to investigate anybody. That’s the job of the board,” said Cleopatra Peter, a member of the Board of Elections.
Member Cornelius Jason JnBaptiste introduced a motion to “uphold the position of the Supervisor,” thereby disqualifying McClafferty to run for delegate. The motion was seconded by Lydia Hendricks, and passed with seven votes in favor and two against.
The meeting became heated as members Cleopatra Peter and Barbara LaRonde sought to prevent the board from taking what they believed was a premature vote on Ida Smith’s appeal.
Smith’s candidacy hinges on a request from Fawkes to prove her residency on St. John. Fawkes also disqualified Smith from the delegate race during the 2024 election cycle, though the Board of Elections opted to overrule her after a similarly contentious meeting that year.
Attempts to read correspondence from Smith and her associates into the public record were met with apparent hostility from Williams, who stated that the matters had already been discussed in the earlier executive session.
“We have correspondence that came to the board, it is on our agenda, and I think we should have it appropriately read before we make decisions,” LaRonde said.
After a drawn-out back-and-forth between LaRonde and Williams, LaRonde was given the opportunity to read several correspondences into the public record, some of which seemed to focus on Fawkes’ personal character. In one document, the author accused Fawkes of trespassing on their property.
“The alleged trespass was particularly serious because the Supervisor of Elections holds a public position requiring integrity, restraint, respect for private property rights, and compliance with applicable laws … I respectfully and firmly demand that Chairman Williams and the Board of Elections of the Virgin Islands take immediate actions to terminate Supervisor Fawkes,” the document read.
A motion by member Kareem T. Francis to “support Supervisor Fawkes’ decision and dispose of Ida Smith’s appeal” was ultimately passed with eight votes in favor.
Shortly before members voted to formally adjourn the meeting, a motion to appoint Hendricks as vice chairperson of the board was passed without objection. Hendricks is a veteran member of the Board of Elections, and returned with Wednesday’s meeting to serve the balance of Vice Chair Lawrence Boschulte’s term following his resignation.
After members voted to formally adjourn the meeting, Hendricks said the following:
“As I sit here today, I am very discouraged by members who are … acting like personal attorneys for these people … You know who you are, acting like personal attorneys for Ida Smith.”
Hendricks’ assertion provoked a strong response from Peter, though her words could not be made out over other board members’ shouting.
The meeting was attended by members Franz Christian, Nathan Fletcher, Francis, Hendricks, JnBaptiste, LaRonde, Lilliana Belardo de O’Neal, Peter, and Williams.
After the meeting, McClafferty emailed, “It’s my understanding that members of the Board of Elections ruled against my candidacy on partisan grounds, and completely ignored the law. It is also obvious that should we challenge this disqualification in court, that we’d win. Everybody knows that. The major development since then has been that we’ve reached out to a certain competitive campaign, and would love to have a discussion. This opponent of mine is a remarkable public servant, even if we have disagreements. I’d love to see how these conversations develop, because there’s a belief that there’s more that unites us than divides us; and if those conversations devolve, we’ll simply sue and easily get back on the ballot because the law is clear.”
