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Judiciary
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Politics of the United States Virgin Islands takes place in a framework of apresidentialrepresentative democraticdependency, whereby thegovernor is the head of the territory's government, and of amulti-party system.United States Virgin Islands are an unincorporated andorganized territory of theUnited States, administered by theOffice of Insular Affairs of theUnited States Department of the Interior.Executive power is exercised by the local government of the Virgin Islands. Thejudiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Virgin Islands residents areU.S. citizens but the territory has no electoral votes to cast for the president or vice president of the U.S. The territory participates in the nominating processes (caucuses).[1] Citizens cannot elect votingmembers of Congress. However, in theU.S. House of Representatives, they are represented by adelegate, who can vote incongressional committees but not in the House itself. Such delegates can speak on the U.S. House floor, introduce bills and offer amendments but cannot vote during business as theCommittee of the Whole or on final passage of legislation. The USVI has been allowed to have non-voting representation since 1972.
Virgin Islands residents can vote fully in all elections if they become a resident of one of the 50U.S. states. If residents of one of the 50 states become residents of the Virgin Islands, they can no longer vote for President or for voting members of Congress.[2]
The voting rights of Virgin Islanders have been the subject of litigation. A federal lawsuit was filed in 2011 in the District Court of the Virgin Islands and was subsequently appealed to the Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals,[3] to provide Virgin Islanders with the fundamental right to be represented in Congress and vote for U.S. President.[4] A similar lawsuit was filed in 2020.[2]
TheRevised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands of 1954[5] is the currentOrganic Act defining thegovernment of the United States Virgin Islands, which were acquired by the United States through theTreaty of the Danish West Indies of 1916. It replaced theOrganic Act of the Virgin Islands of 1936[6] and earlier temporary provisions.[7][8]
TheVirgin Islands Elective Governor Act[9] made the governor an elected office.[10][11] Further amendments in 1984 removed the right toindictment for certain crimes and the jurisdiction of theadmiralty courts.[12]
There have been several attempts at a constitution. The most recent attempt was theFifth Constitutional Convention of the U.S. Virgin Islands which passed a proposed constitution in May 2009 but was rejected by Congress in June 2010.
| Office | Name | Party | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| President of the United States | Donald Trump | Republican | 20 January 2025 |
| Governor | Albert Bryan | Democratic | 7 January 2019 |
| Lieutenant Governor | Tregenza Roach | Democratic | 7 January 2019 |
Thegovernor and thelieutenant governor are elected on the same ticket bypopular vote for four-year terms.[13]
The Virgin Islands's territorial legislature is the 15-memberLegislature of the Virgin Islands. The body isunicameral and comprises seven senators from the district ofSaint Croix, seven senators from the district ofSaint Thomas andSaint 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. There is no limit as to the number of terms they can serve.[14]
| Party | Under 18 | 18 to 24 | 25 to 44 | 45 to 65 | 66 and over | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| DEM | 0 | 0% | 678 | 45.68% | 3,156 | 57.99% | 8,522 | 68.35% | 7,935 | 73.86% | 20,291 | 67.32% | |
| ICM | 0 | 0% | 15 | 1.01% | 82 | 1.50% | 306 | 2.45% | 366 | 3.40% | 769 | 2.55% | |
| REP | 0 | 0% | 65 | 4.38% | 175 | 3.21% | 448 | 3.59% | 364 | 3.38% | 1,052 | 3.49% | |
| NON | 1 | 100% | 726 | 48.92% | 2,029 | 37.28% | 3,192 | 25.60% | 2,078 | 19.34% | 8,026 | 26.63% | |
| Total | 1 | 0.003% | 1,484 | 4.92% | 5,442 | 18.05% | 12,468 | 41.36% | 10,743 | 35.64% | 30,138 | ||
The U.S. Virgin Islands has aDistrict Court, aSupreme Court and aSuperior Court.
Judges on the District Court are appointed by the president for ten year terms, subject to Senate confirmation. They may serve more than one term. This is a federal court, established in 1936, with jurisdiction over the US Virgin Islands, with diversity jurisdiction and bankruptcy jurisdiction. Appeals of this court's decisions are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. One courthouse is located in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, and one is in Christiansted, St. Croix.[15]
Judges of the USVI Supreme Court and Superior Court are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislative body.
The US Virgin Islands have no local governments, theCensus Bureau divides them into threecounty equivalents:Saint Croix,Saint John, andSaint Thomas.[16]
