Supervisor of Elections briefs committee as bill to clarify party primaries fails to advance

The Committee on Government Operations, Veterans' Affairs and Consumer Protection heard a detailed briefing on Friday from Caroline Fox, supervisor of elections, and Raymond J. Williams, chairman of the Board of Elections, on the operations, technology upgrades and legal challenges facing territorial elections — and debated two bills meant to clarify how political parties nominate candidates. Neither bill advanced out of committee.

Fox told the committee she seeks to “restore and strengthen public confidence in the electoral system” and described ongoing modernization projects, including an online voter registration portal launched Jan. 16, 2025. She said the portal has been used by 18 people on St. Thomas, one on St. John and 10 on St. Croix and that the office will run a public education campaign through 2026 to raise uptake.

“Naturally, elections are a process, not an event,” Fox said in the hearing. She outlined responsibilities of the office — voter registration maintenance, absentee and vote-by-mail services, poll-worker recruitment, cybersecurity measures and public outreach — and listed steps the office has taken, from deploying next-generation e-poll books and printers to moving toward tablets for poll judges.

The hearing centered on two related measures proposed by Sen. Alma Francis-Heiliger: bill 36-0071, which would amend Title 18, V.I. Code, to provide a time-certain process for political parties to announce whether they will use a primary or an internal nominating method; and bill 36-0073, which would amend code sections addressing the powers of the supervisor and the board to clarify final authority for board decisions.

Sponsor Sen. Alma Francis-Heiliger said her intent was narrow and practical: to supply a constitutional, time-limited fallback so voters and election officials will know how party nominations will be handled in 2026. “If this doesn't get passed, it's going to be a whole lot of drama next year,” she told the committee.

Carol M. Burke, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of the U.S. Virgin Islands, urged broader statutory reform. Burke cited a Jan. 10, 2024, federal ruling by Chief Judge Robert Molloy that struck parts of Title 18 as unconstitutionally vague and said the ruling confirmed parties’ constitutional autonomy over internal organization. “This bill reasserts the election system's rightful role in conducting primary elections while respecting party autonomy,” Burke said, but she recommended additional protections: public disclosure of party opt-outs, minimum standards for internal nominations, public notice deadlines and contingency language to protect the election calendar from protracted legal disputes.

Board chair Raymond J. Williams told lawmakers the Board of Elections has struggled with internal discord that has hampered its ability to act. Williams described failed attempts to hold a fully constituted meeting and said he declined to offer a unilateral testimony representing the board because he said the membership lacked consensus. “I will not proffer any testimony because it would not reflect that of the membership,” Williams said.

Committee members pressed Fox and Williams on specifics: the office's cybersecurity posture; how voting equipment, thumb drives and tabulation are secured; how provisional and absentee ballots are processed; and how the board and supervisor should coordinate under the existing law. Fox described monthly cybersecurity checks performed with external partners, said the voter database is housed off-island, and explained that thumb drives used for vote tabulation are sealed, retained under lock and kept for two years to permit recounts or audits.

The committee took three formal actions related to the bills and agenda. Members voted 7–0 to merge the two agenda blocks (the motion to combine discussion of bills 36-0071 and 36-0073), but later attempts to move either bill out of committee failed when motions to send them favorably to rules/judiciary died for lack of a second. The committee therefore did not advance either bill.

Senators and testifiers repeatedly urged prompt statutory cleanup. Several members noted inconsistencies between Title 18 sections about quorum and board composition — language that still references a “joint board” and minimum members from each district in places, and a different quorum definition elsewhere — and recommended that the legislature revise Title 18 to remove contradictions before the 2026 election cycle.

The committee recessed after the votes. The supervisor said the office will continue preparations for the 2026 cycle and the public education campaign on online registration; party leaders said they will continue to work with the legislature on clearer ballot-access and nomination language.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to merge agenda blocks covering bills 36-0071 and 36-0073: approved (mover: Sen. Kenneth L. Gittens; tally: 7 yeas). The committee voted to combine discussion of the two related measures into a single block.

- Motion to move bill 36-0071 (amend Title 18 §232 to set a time-certain opt-out/nomination process) favorably to Rules & Judiciary: failed (mover: Sen. Alma Francis-Heiliger; died for lack of a second).

- Motion to move bill 36-0073 (amend Title 18 chapters on supervisor/board powers) favorably to Rules & Judiciary: failed (mover: Sen. Alma Francis-Heiliger; died for lack of a second).

What to watch

Lawmakers and party leaders signaled they intend to pursue statutory cleanup of Title 18 before the 2026 primary and general elections so that nomination processes, quorum rules and the distribution of authority between the board and the supervisor are unambiguous. The supervisor continues planned modernization (online registration and e-poll books) while the board seeks to resolve internal governance issues before the next election cycle.

Ending

The committee recessed after taking the votes and did not send either bill to Rules & Judiciary. Officials at the supervisor's office and party leaders said they will continue technical and legal work to prepare for 2026 and asked the legislature to consider clearer, nonpartisan statutory language that protects voters and party autonomy.