During a hastily called meeting on Wednesday, the V.I. Elections Board, following heated debate, voted to reinstate Ida Smith as a candidate for the upcoming Nov. 5 election, despite her prior disqualification by the Supervisor of Elections.
On Aug. 27 and 29, the board voted to get more information about a dispute over Smith’s disqualification as a candidate for Delegate to Congress. According to Supervisor of Elections Caroline Fawkes, Smith was registered to vote in New York and the Virgin Islands when she submitted her application, which disqualified her as a candidate. Later, the Elections staff submitted paperwork to New York to remove her as a voter, Fawkes said.
Smith, an Independent residing on St. John, is challenging Delegate Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat, for the Washington, D.C. position. She has maintained the qualifications for Delegate are age (25 years or older), being a U.S. citizen for at least seven years and a resident of the state or territory for which they hope to be elected.
Board members had a hard time agreeing on anything Wednesday — even how much time to devote to an executive session to discuss the opinion from Attorney General nominee Gordon Rhea, received earlier in the day. After the agreed 40 minutes, Chairwoman Alicia Wells announced that no votes were taken during the executive session.
As a result of the first discussion after the executive session, the board voted to agree with Fawkes and deny Smith a place on the ballot. Offering a point of information, just after that vote, board member Lisa Harris-Moorhead reminded the group that by voting against Rhea’s recommendation, the members were leaving themselves open to a lawsuit in which they would need to obtain their own individual legal counsel.
In an abrupt reversal, board member Epiphane Joseph motioned and a majority of the board voted in agreement with the AG’s opinion to add Smith to the ballot on Nov. 5. The vote was 7 in favor, 4 against and two abstentions.
Joseph then made a motion to ask for Fawkes to resign for lying and misleading the board. Amid several loud objections and many opposing voices, the motion failed for the lack of a second.
Fawkes then stated “on the record” that she did not mislead anyone.
‘I disagree with the Attorney General’s opinion. I did not mislead. The facts are there. And I will not put Ms. Smith on the ballot, so we can go to court,” the supervisor stated, adding that her position allows her to take that stance.
The second agenda item — to approve the Nov. 5 ballot — was approved unanimously to be printed with Smith’s name on it.
Attending the meeting were Wells, Harris-Moorhead, Joseph, Shakima Jones, Lydia Hendricks, Florine Audain-Hassell, Kareem Francis, Harriet Mercer, Lilliana Belardo De O’Neal, Raymond Williams, and Atanya Springette.
