ST. CROIX — Supervisor of Elections Caroline Fawkes has disqualified former Senator James Weber III from seeking election as delegate to Congress after determining that he failed to submit enough valid nomination signatures to qualify for the ballot.
In a letter to Weber on Wednesday, Fawkes informed the aspirant that his candidacy for the 2026 election cycle had been rejected because he did not meet the statutory signature requirements outlined in Title 18, Section 381(b) of the Virgin Islands Code.
The disqualification marks the latest development in Weber’s effort to secure a place on the ballot.
Earlier this election cycle, Fawkes disqualified Weber after determining that he had filed his nomination petition in the St. Thomas/St. John District despite being registered to vote and residing on St. Croix. Fawkes cited Title 18, Section 410(a)(1), which requires candidates to file nomination petitions in the district where they reside.
At the time, Weber challenged the decision and requested a hearing before the Virgin Islands Board of Elections, arguing that filing in the wrong district should not prevent him from seeking territorial office.
“If you can cure a petition because the people who have signed it may not be valid or the wrong party, really and truly, what does it matter where I deliver it?” Weber said at the time. “It’s delivered in the Virgin Islands.”
The Board of Elections subsequently voted during an emergency meeting to give Weber three days to correct the filing issue that had led to his initial disqualification.
He filed his petition on St. Croix on June 11, correcting the filing district issue. However, he met another stumbling block as he was given a notice of defect requiring him to provide at least 34 additional valid signatures to cure deficiencies in his nomination petition.
Weber, a former deputy supervisor of the Elections System of the Virgin Islands, brought in the signatures on Tuesday, hoping to satisfy the defect, but he fell short. In a letter to Weber, Fawkes wrote that he submitted an additional 32 signatures in the St. Croix District, but elections staff determined that only 23 were valid. In the St. Thomas/St. John District, Weber submitted 43 additional signatures, of which only 24 were deemed valid.
“The Elections System of the Virgin Islands has determined that your filing did not satisfy the mandatory statutory requirements set forth under Title 18 Section 381(b),” Fawkes wrote. “As a result, your candidacy cannot be certified, and you are hereby disqualified from appearing on the ballot as a candidate for Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.”
For a full list of certified candidates for the 2026 primary and general election, go to the Elections System of the Virgin Islands Facebook page.
