Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett and four other Democrats seeking territorial office have written to the Virgin Islands Legislature, calling on lawmakers to fully fund the upcoming 2026 primary election, according to a statement issued Thursday.
The letter, sent Tuesday to Senate President Milton Potter and the 36th Legislature, asserts “the Virgin Islands Board of Elections is obligated by law to conduct primary elections, and the Legislature is obligated to fund them.”
Not doing so, or extended debates against doing so, creates distrust detrimental to voters just months before the elections, Plaskett wrote.
“Now is not the time to create obstacles that limit ballot access,” the letter states. “At every level of election throughout the United States, Democrats are fighting to protect the public’s access to the voting booth.”
The letter was cosigned by Democratic congressional candidates Rashida Francis, Teri Helenese, Janelle Sarauw, and Delia Smith.
Independent candidate Shelley Moorhead refuted Plaskett’s interpretation of the law, saying in social media posts that 2024 court rulings barred public elections officials from helping organize political parties’ internal structure, such as electing leaders and committee members. Conducting primary elections themselves, however, was covered under Title 18 of the V.I. Code, he said.
Moorhead’s concern, he said, was whether it was appropriate to use tax money for primary elections that only party members could vote in — with only Democrats allowed to vote in the Democratic primary. The idea of opening primaries to all registered voters, regardless of party affiliation, has been around for more than two decades.
“If public money funds this primary, it must comply with the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment, and the Voting Rights Act. That means it cannot be exclusionary. It cannot be a closed party event funded by taxpayers,” he said.
“If a primary election is funded by taxpayer dollars, administered by the Elections System of the Virgin Islands, conducted using public infrastructure, then it is not a private party event. It is state action,” Moorhead said.
Who should pay for the Virgin Islands’ primary election has long been a topic of heated conversation and occasional litigation. Inconsistencies in Virgin Islands Elections laws, practices, and funding have led to countless legislative and court hearings.
In 1997, the St. Croix Elections Board interpreted the V.I. Code as requiring political parties to be responsible for primary elections. In March 2000, Gov. Charles Turnbull vetoed a bill that would have codified in law that political parties were responsible for holding their own primaries. A few months later, Elections officials reversed course and, in an effort not to disenfranchise voters, decided to pay for primaries. More disputes followed. In 2002, public funds were allocated to fund primaries. That was up for debate again by the Election System in 2014. In 2015 and 2016, the board that would later be rolled into a unified territorial Board of Elections would oversee primary elections, but the individual parties would need to pay for them. It was not a new idea. This led to a divided Board of Elections and a standoff with the Legislature about funding the primaries.
A decade later, some of the same issues remain.
