United States Virgin Islands Constitutional Convention election, 2007

The 2007 United States Virgin Islands Constitutional Convention election was an election to the Fifth Constitutional Convention of the U.S. Virgin Islands in the United States Virgin Islands on 12 June 2007. The convention was the fifth attempt to give the United States territory its own constitution; previous constitutional conventions had been elected (without a constitution being adopted) in 1964, 1971, 1977 and 1980. .

There were thirty delegates elected — fifteen from Saint Croix, twelve from Saint Thomas, and three from Saint John. Two delegates from each of those districts were elected by voters on a territory-wide basis.

Election Results

Name	Seat	Number of votes
Adelbert Bryan	St. Croix at-large	4,841
Gerard Luz James II	St. Croix at-large	3,555
Arturo Watlington Jr.	St. Thomas-St. John at-large	4,065
Craig Barshinger	St. Thomas-St. John at-large	2,732
Dr. Eugene Petersen	St. Croix	2,856
Michael Thurland	St. Croix	2,323
Claire Roker	St. Croix	2,094
Rena Brodhurst	St. Croix	1,894
Doug Capdeville	St. Croix	1,822
Arnold Golden	St. Croix	1,794
Richard Schrader Jr.	St. Croix	1,775
Gerard Emanuel	St. Croix	1,588
Mary Moorhead	St. Croix	1,548
Kendall Petersen	St. Croix	1,504
Violet Anne Golden	St. Croix	1,498
Robert Schuster	St. Croix	1,479
Douglas Brady	St. Croix	1,457
Myron Jackson	St. Thomas	2,546
Charles Turnbull	St. Thomas	2,482
Alecia Wells	St. John	2,186
Lawrence Sewer	St. Thomas	2,096
Lois Hassell-Habtes	St. Thomas	2,082
Clement Magras	St. Thomas	2,015
Elsie Thomas-Trotman	St. John	1,890
Stedmann Hodge Jr.	St. Thomas	1,747
Thomas Moore	St. Thomas	1,695
Francis Jackson	St. Thomas	1,680
Mario Francis	St. Thomas	1,500
Wilma Marsh Monsanto	St. Thomas	1,499
Lisa Williams	St. Thomas	1,378 [1]"

Process

The delegates had until May 31, 2009 to deliberate on a constitution proposal. The convention did not start work in July 2007, as planned, due to delays over legal challenges to the poll; it finally convened on 29 October 2007.

It should then (after review periods by the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, the President of the United States and the United States Congress) be put to a referendum, possibly in November 2010.

If the people of the Virgin Islands do not ratify a constitution, they will continue to be governed by the Revised Organic Act of 1954, which was passed by the United States Congress. It is a federal law, meaning the people of the Virgin Islands cannot amend it themselves.^[2]

References

1. "Native-Rights Advocate Bryan Biggest Winner in Constitutional Convention Delegate Vote". The V.I. Source, June 12, 2007. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
2. "The purpose of a constitution is to put power in the hands of the territory" (PDF). The Virgin Islands Daily News, May 8, 2007. Retrieved 2010-09-29.

External links

• Election results
• Constitutional Conventions in the United States Virgin Islands
• Official timeline of the Fifth Constitutional Convention
• Information and stories about the Fifth Constitutional Convention from former Virgin Islands Daily News reporter Megan Poinski