The Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands has asked a federal judge to bar the territory’s Elections System from distributing nomination papers ahead of the Aug. 1 primary election, according to court records.
At issue is the role the Elections Systems should play in primaries — where political parties choose who will represent them in the general election.
In 2024, District Court Chief Judge Robert Molloy ruled eight sections of the V.I. Code were unconstitutional because they improperly asserted control over how nongovernment entities organized themselves.
Nomination petitions offered by the Elections System allow qualified Virgin Islanders to be considered for public office. The process is partially spelled out in the V.I. Code, Title 18, Chapter 17. The law allows prospective candidates to list their political affiliation or, if choosing none, be listed as an independent candidate. Although portions of the law were recently repealed, it still requires the elections office to print and distribute nomination papers. Whether that includes primary elections seems to be up for interpretation.
The lawsuit filed by Democrats Tuesday argues distributing these papers is unconstitutional as it interferes with political parties’ internal governance. They’ve asked the court to prohibit Elections officials from handing them out.
“Unless immediately enjoined, defendants’ conduct will inflict irreparable harm upon DPVI’s fundamental First Amendment rights and throw the upcoming primary election into chaos,” they wrote in the suit.
The Virgin Islands political party also complained the Elections System did not take up or even acknowledge a separate, Democrat written process for certifying primary election results.
On Tuesday, Molloy ordered a pretrial conference on the matter set for April 21.
Last week, Congressional Delegate Stacey Plaskett and four Democrats seeking to take her place in the U.S. House of Representatives wrote the Virgin Island Legislature, demanding it allocate money for the primary elections — something they said was required by law.
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.
