Politics of the United States Virgin Islands

Politics of the United States Virgin Islands takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic dependency, whereby the Governor is the head of the local government, and of a multi-party system. The United States Virgin Islands are an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the United States Department of the Interior. Executive power is exercised by the local government of the Virgin Islands. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Virgin Islands residents are U.S. citizens but cannot vote in United States presidential election and cannot elect voting members of Congress. However, in the U.S. House of Representatives, they are represented by a delegate, who can vote in congressional committees but not in the House itself. Virgin Islands residents can vote fully in all elections if they become a resident of one of the 50 U.S. states, while residents of one of the 50 states who become residents of the Virgin Islands can no longer vote for President or for voting members of Congress.

A federal lawsuit since 2011 in the District Court of the Virgin Islands and now before the Washington, D.C., Circuit Court is currently^[1] pending to provide Virgin Islanders with the fundamental right to be represented in Congress and vote for U.S. President.^[2] The federal case is Civil No. 3:11-cv-110, Charles v. U.S. Federal Elections Commission.^[3] A similar case was filed in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands against the local Board of Elections.^[4] The cases allege it was racial discrimination present in an all-white and segregated Congress of 1917 that was the impetus to deny the right to vote to a majority non-white constituency.^[5] The local case is also pending a decision.

Law

The Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands of 1954^[6] is the current Organic Act defining the government of the United States Virgin Islands, which were acquired by the United States through the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of 1916. It replaced the Organic Act of the Virgin Islands of 1936^[7] and earlier temporary provisions.^[8]

It was subsequently amended in 1958 to prohibit political or religious tests, but required a loyalty oath as qualification to any office or public trust.^[9] The Virgin Islands Elective Governor Act^[10] made the Governor an elected office,^[11] and further amendments in 1984 removed the right to indictment for certain crimes and the jurisdiction of the admiralty courts.^[12]

There have been several attempts at a constitution. The most recent attempt was the Fifth Constitutional Convention of the U.S. Virgin Islands which passed a proposed constitution in May 2009 but was rejected by Congress in June 2010.

Executive branch

Main office holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
President of the United States	Barack Obama	Democratic	20 January 2009
Governor	Kenneth Mapp	Independent	5 January 2015
Lieutenant Governor	Osbert Potter	Independent	5 January 2015

The governor and the lieutenant governor are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms.

Territorial Cabinet

Department	Office	Incumbent	in Office since
Department of Finance	Commissioner	Angel E. Dawson, Jr.	*
Department of Justice	Attorney General, (acting)	Claude Walker	2015
Office of Management & Budget	Director	Debra Gottlieb	*
Department of Education	Commissioner	Sharon McCollum, PhD.	2015
Department of Public Works	Commissioner	Gustav James	2015
Department of Sports, Parks & Recreation	Commissioner	Pedro Cruz	2015
Department of Police	Commissioner	Delroy Richards	2015
Department of Property & Procurement	Commissioner	Lynn A. Millin Maduro	*
Department of Tourism	Commissioner	Beverly Nicholson Doty	2007
Department of Agriculture	Commissioner	Dr. Louis E. Petersen, Jr.	*
Department of Labor	Commissioner	Albert Bryan, Jr.	*
Department of Health	Commissioner	Julia Sheen-Aaron	*
Department of Human Services	Commissioner	Christopher E. Finch	*
Department of Planning & Natural Resources	Commissioner, (acting)	Alicia Barnes	*
Department of Licensing & Consumer Affairs	Commissioner	Devin Carrington, Esq.	*
Division of Personnel	Commissioner	Milton Potter	2015
Office of Collective Bargaining	Director	Valdemar Hill, Jr.	*
Internal Revenue Bureau	Director	Marvin L Pickering, EA, PHR, ATA, ATP	2015
Department of Fire Services	Director, (acting)	Steve Brow	*
National Guard	Adjutant General	Gen. Renaldo Rivera	*
VITEMA	Director, (designee)	Elton Lewis	*
Inspector General	Inspector General	Steven G. van Beverhoudt	*
Department of Veteran's Affairs	Director	Morris D. Moorehead	*
Economic Development Authority	Chief Executive Officer	Percival Clouden	*
Bureau of Economic Research	Director	Lauritz Mills	*
Motor Vehicle Bureau	Director	Lawrence Olive	2015

Legislative branch

The Virgin Islands's territorial legislature is the 15-member Legislature of the Virgin Islands. The body is unicameral and comprises seven Senators from the district of Saint Croix, seven Senators from the district of Saint Thomas and Saint John, and one Senator at-large (who must be a resident of Saint John). They are elected for a two-year term to the territorial legislature.

Political parties and elections

Judicial branch

The U.S. Virgin Islands has a District Court, a Supreme Court and a Superior Court. Judges on the District Court are appointed by the President for ten year terms. Judges on the Supreme Court and Superior Court are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislative body.

Administrative divisions

There are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the U.S. Government, but there are three islands at the second order; Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas.

References

1. ALDETH LEWIN (Daily News Staff). "Conference, lawsuit focus on citizenship rights for residents of U.S. territories". virginislandsdailynews.com.
2. Michael Todd (Daily News Staff). "V.I. attorney waging battle to gain federal vote for USVI". virginislandsdailynews.com.
3. http://sunlawvi.com/RTV%20Packet%20%28DC%29.pdf
4. "United States Virgin Islands - THE TRIAL WARRIOR BLOG". thetrialwarrior.com.
5. Voice of Russia Radio, Audio interview of the Attorney Pate at 1/3 through the audio stream.
6. Pub.L. 83–517, 68 Stat. 497, enacted July 22, 1954
7. Pub.L. 74–749, 49 Stat. 1807, enacted June 22, 1936
8. Pub.L. 64–389, 39 Stat. 1132, enacted March 3, 1917
9. Pub.L. 85–851, 72 Stat. 1094, enacted August 28, 1958
10. Pub.L. 90–496, 82 Stat. 837, enacted August 23, 1968
11. Pub.L. 98–213, 97 Stat. 1459, enacted December 8, 1983
12. Pub.L. 98–454 Pub.L. 98–454, 98 Stat. 1732, enacted October 5, 1984