Elections Supervisor Caroline Fawkes issued a formal apology Wednesday to a poll watcher and others who expressed concerns over how the 2024 Virgin Islands elections were handled.
The poll watcher, Ann Williams, told the Board of Elections she had been intimidated by a plain-clothed police officer at the polling station when early voting started, and that required seating accommodations had not been provided each day. She said Elections staff and others made her feel unwelcome.
At a chaotic board complaint hearing Friday, Williams said she didn’t think she’d ever get over the incident, during which the police officer cursed at her and allegedly attempted to remove her from the voting place.
The Elections Board voted against issuing an apology but voted to require Fawkes to apologize.
“As directed by the Virgin Islands Board of Elections during a meeting held on Friday, April 11, 2025, I, Caroline Fawkes, Supervisor of Elections, would like to extend our apologies to Ms. Ann Williams and any other voters who may have experienced dissatisfaction with the customer service provided during Early Voting,” Fawkes wrote on Elections System letterhead. “We want to reassure all voters that providing the highest standard of customer service is our top priority.”
That board voted against a similar apology to another woman upset with how the election was handled but also asked that the Attorney General’s office weigh in on the matter.
The Friday meeting was so contentious and confusing that days later, board members were still unsure what had happened. On Sunday, several board members said they needed to review video of the hearing to understand exactly what was voted down and the exact language of measures voted on favorably.
The hearing reignited a long-smoldering feud over election controls. One board member said there were five other complaints about the 2024 election yet to be heard.
