ST. CROIX — An amendment to an elections statute signed into law in 2023 relating to the ineligibility for government officials to serve on the Board of Elections prevents Bureau of Motor Vehicles Director Barbara Jackson-McIntosh from running for a BOE seat unless she resigns as BMV director.
As the Elections System of the Virgin Islands reviews the nomination petitions prior to the certification of nominees on June 11, Supervisor of Elections Caroline Fawkes said Jackson-McIntosh will be given a notice of defect pursuant to Act No. 8690 to which she will have three days to respond.
“Based on the law that was revised, she will not be eligible to run for the board and still hold her position,” Fawkes said. “So, she has a choice whether she wants to resign her position to run for the board, or she’ll have to withdraw from the board position.”
Jackson-McIntosh, who previously served two, four-year terms on the BOE through 2022, said via text message that she was not aware of the amended law.
“I was not aware that this was one of the slew of amendments that were made in Act 8690,” she wrote. “I will review and make my decision accordingly.”
The 34th Legislature of the Virgin Islands approved multiple non-germane amendments to Bill No. 34-0298 (Act No. 8690) during legislative session on December 29, 2022. One of them related to eligibility of membership to the Board of Elections. Governor Albert Bryan Jr. signed the measure into law on January 19, 2023.
Act No. 8690, Section 29 amended the Virgin Islands Code in Title 18, Chapter 3, Section 41, Subsection (d) by adding language that prevents “government officials” as defined in Title 3, Chapter 25, Subchapter IVa, Section 541 from being eligible as members of the Board of Elections. Government officials include “the attorney general, governor, members of the governor’s Cabinet, including all commissioners and directors of government agencies, the lieutenant governor, the judicial officers, senators of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, and all elected officials in the Virgin Islands who receive remuneration.”
Former Senator Janelle Sarauw, who offered the amendment to the elections law during the legislative session, said the intent of the amendment was from the standpoint of perception of eroding trust in the Board of Elections.
“Trust has to be restored to the Board of Elections, so that was the first impetus to why we moved that amendment,” she said.
Additionally, Sarauw said the amendment was offered from an ethical standpoint given the fact so many Cabinet members were on the board at the time. In addition to Jackson-McIntosh, she noted the other Cabinet members on the board at the time were Raymond Williams, VI Lottery director, and Shikima Jones-Sprauve, St. John administrator. She also noted Florine Audain-Hassell, assistant director of the Division of Personnel, was also on the board at the time.
Audain-Hassell was elected to the Board of Elections on November 8, 2022. She joined the board as a member in January 2023.
While Williams and Jones-Sprauve are Cabinet members, Audain-Hassell is not. All three are still serving on the board. As Cabinet members, Williams and Jones-Sprauve can continue serving on the board until their terms expire since they were already board members when the amendment passed, according to Act 8690, Section 30.
Sarauw noted the public perception of having Cabinet members serving on the Board of Elections.
“During the election, they saw them in their Bryan/Roach shirts campaigning for the Bryan/Roach team, and then they also served on the Board of Elections, and that was a clear conflict of interest,” Sarauw said. “Hence why we moved legislation from a moral and ethical standpoint because it is a conflict of interest.”
Sarauw said the amendment being offered was not an attack against the Bryan/Roach administration, stressing it applies to any Board of Elections candidate moving forward.
“Whether they’re senatorial, or gubernatorial, or congressional, one cannot literally be outwardly campaigning for that candidate and then turn around and then serve on the board,” she said. “It clouds the integrity of the institution, and the Board of Elections should always remain impartial.”
Sarauw offered the amendment on behalf of herself and former Senators Kurt Vialet and Genevieve Whitaker, as well as Senate President Donna Frett-Gregory, At-Large Senator Angel Bolques Jr., and Senators Carla Joseph, Franklin Johnson, Alma Francis Heyliger, and Samuel Carrión. It was not opposed.
The deadline for withdrawal of nominated candidates is Sunday. Since the ESVI offices will be closed Sunday, and Monday in observation of Memorial Day, nominated candidates who want to withdraw can submit an original notarized letter with Sunday’s date on it when the offices reopen between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Elections System on St. Croix and St. Thomas, or between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. at the office on St. John. A scanned copy of the letter can be emailed to esvi.info@vi.gov.
