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The Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced that it found no fraudulent or criminal activity in a video that was circulating on social media, which some had said showed possible election fraud during the counting of votes on Nov. 8 following the 2022 General Election.
The video showed an Elections System employee performing her duties of counting votes on Tues., Nov. 8, and at one point placed her right hand in her right pants pocket. Some were concerned that she might have placed something in her pocket during that time.
The FBI received numerous complaints and investigated the matter, the Elections System said. The agency subsequently discussed the case with the U.S. Attorney General’s Office in Washington, D.C., and both agencies confirmed that no fraudulent or criminal activity occurred during the counting of votes.
On Tuesday, December 13, the FBI’s special agent met with several V.I. Elections System board members and management to discuss the matter. During the meeting, board members were informed of the agency’s final decision.
The FBI has officially closed the matter.
“The FBI is the primary law enforcement agency responsible for investigating election fraud, and we are committed to finding and investigating voter fraud during this election," the FBI said.
"The FBI takes all threats of violence seriously. The work of election officials, their staffs, and volunteers is essential to our democracy and any threat to these public servants is completely unacceptable. The FBI remains vigilant in our efforts to detect and assess possible threats and, as always, we encourage the public to promptly report suspicious activities which could represent a threat to public safety.”
Board of Elections Chairman, Raymond J. Williams welcomed the investigation and was pleased to share the results of the investigation with the Virgin Islands community. “This is a testament to the board members, staff, elections officials, and support vendors who work relentlessly to ensure that fair, accessible, secure, and transparent elections are conducted in the U.S. Virgin Islands. We will continue to serve voters with honesty and integrity,” he said.
Supervisor of Elections Caroline F. Fawkes expressed appreciation to all Virgin Islanders who cast their ballots during the 2022 election cycle, and all those who ensured that the voting process from start to finish was transparent — including the opportunity for closed circuit video access by the public to witness the voting count process.
“The Elections System is already preparing for the 2024 election cycle by building on our strengths and fine-tuning any of our operations, as necessary, to continually maintain the public trust,” Ms. Fawkes said.
Governor Albert Bryan defeated challenger Sen. Kurt Vialet on Nov. 8 to win a second term in office.
