Testimony on Raymond Williams - Board Chair 1.23.2026, Elections System of the Virgin Islands — Government Operations, Veterans Affairs and Consummer Protection
ST. CROIX P.O. Box 1499 KINGSHILL, St. CROIX V100851 - 1499 PHONE: (340) 773-1021 FAX (340) 773-4523 PHYSICAL ADDRESS: SUNNY ISLE ANNEX UNIT 4, 93A ST. CROIX VI 00823 ST. THOMAS P.O. Box 6038 ST. THOMAS, VI 00801 PHONE (340)774-3107 FAX: (340) 776-2391 PHYSICAL ADDRESS: 9200 LOCKHART GARDEN ST. Thomas, VI 00802 ST.JOHN P.O. Box 6038 ST. T HOMAS VI 00801 Phone (340)776-6535 FAX. (340) 776-2391 PHYSICAL ADDRESS: THE BATTERY ST. JOHN IDD TOLL FREE: 1-877-773-1021 WEBSITE: www.vivote.gov EMAIL: eilectionsys@ unitedstates.vi Board of Elections TESTIMONY OF RAYMOND J. WILLIAMS CHAIRMAN, VIRGIN ISLANDS BOARD OF ELECTION January 23, 2026 BOE Operational Status Good morning, The Honorable Avery Lewis, Chairman Committee on Government Operations, Veterans Affairs and Consumer Protection: members of the Committee and all other senators present. My name is Raymond J. Williams, Chairman of the Virgin Islands Board of Election. I appear before you this morning at your request to present testimony on the Operational Status of the Board. …
Download the original document · Plain text (TXT) · Browse the archive · How this archive works
SHA-256 8c595f82e14474ebe554daffde69711b9fcf80e7500a44a498c1be40ef06c029
Re-using this document
A proceeding of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, open to the public under 3 V.I.C. § 881, which reaches any committee of any branch of government and permits the news media to publish what it records.
Our description, tagging, arrangement, extracted text and machine transcripts are released under CC0 1.0. We assert nothing about the document itself.
Archive identifier LF-8c595f82e144
Document text
ST. CROIX P.O. Box 1499 KINGSHILL, St. CROIX V100851 - 1499 PHONE: (340) 773-1021 FAX (340) 773-4523 PHYSICAL ADDRESS: SUNNY ISLE ANNEX UNIT 4, 93A ST. CROIX VI 00823 ST. THOMAS P.O. Box 6038 ST. THOMAS, VI 00801 PHONE (340)774-3107 FAX: (340) 776-2391 PHYSICAL ADDRESS: 9200 LOCKHART GARDEN ST. Thomas, VI 00802 ST.JOHN P.O. Box 6038 ST. T HOMAS VI 00801 Phone (340)776-6535 FAX. (340) 776-2391 PHYSICAL ADDRESS: THE BATTERY ST. JOHN IDD TOLL FREE: 1-877-773-1021 WEBSITE: www.vivote.gov EMAIL: eilectionsys@ unitedstates.vi Board of Elections TESTIMONY OF RAYMOND J. WILLIAMS CHAIRMAN, VIRGIN ISLANDS BOARD OF ELECTION January 23, 2026 BOE Operational Status Good morning, The Honorable Avery Lewis, Chairman Committee on Government Operations, Veterans Affairs and Consumer Protection: members of the Committee and all other senators present. My name is Raymond J. Williams, Chairman of the Virgin Islands Board of Election. I appear before you this morning at your request to present testimony on the Operational Status of the Board. The Board of Elections met on January 16, 2026, to discuss and take action relative to its operational status. At the onset of the meeting, we went into debate where each member was allotted eight (8) minutes to speak on the matter. The majority of the members spoke relative to our internal (BOE) needs/struggles as they saw it. Most of which I took notes with the intent to implement most. After debate time expired, I opened the floor to entertain motions relative to the long burning issues and concerns surrounding Act number 8690 more specifically the portions that involve Title 18 VIC starting on page three section 11(8)(12-18), on page five section 12 and 13, and on page 9 sections 36-37. The motions were as follows: ➢ To repeal section 11(b)(8)(12-18) offered by member Peter, seconded by member Mercer, objected to by Hassell. 6 yes, 6 no, 2 absent Motion failed. ➢ To repeal section 12 by member Peter, seconded by member Mercer. 7 yes, 4 no, 1 abstain, 2 absent. Motion passed ➢ To repeal section 36 offered by Mercer, seconded by LaRonde, objected to by member Hassell. 4 yes, 7 no, 1 abstained, 2 absent Motion Failed ➢ To recommend that the 36th Legislature review sections 11(b)(8)(12-18) offered by member Francis, seconded by member Jones-Sprauve. 6 yes 5 no, 2 absent. Motion passed As was represented in my letter to Senate President Milton Potter, Act 8690, has multiple sections that the duties overlap between the Supervisor of Elections and the Board. A determination must be made as to who has the powers and duties of Act 8960 as it pertains to the sections. Both the Board and the Supervisor cannot share these powers. These were the actions of the Board, but I also must represent that for more than 20 years the Board(s) and now Board has asked for legislative revision to Title 18 but it has been piecemeal to say the least. We need clarification on “what constitutes a quorum” currently in the code two different sections refer to a quorum as a majority of members (8 of 14) to officially have a meeting or requiring that “at least three members from a district be among the eight to establish a quorum. Where the word(s) “Joint Boards” appears must be struck and replaced with the word “Board” I stand ready to answer questions. Thank you.