Title 48 — Territories and Insular PossessionsRelease 119-73
§1542 Voting franchise; discrimination prohibited
Title 48 › Chapter CHAPTER 12— - VIRGIN ISLANDS [1954] › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 1542
Summary
Residents of the Virgin Islands who are U.S. citizens and at least 21 years old have the right to vote. The local legislature can set extra rules, but it cannot require property, language, or income tests or treat people differently because of race, color, sex, or religion. The legislature may lower the voting age to 18 if a majority of the qualified voters approve it in a referendum.
Full Legal Text
Title 48, §1542
Territories and Insular Possessions — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The franchise shall be vested in residents of the Virgin Islands who are citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age or over. Additional qualifications may be prescribed by the legislature: Provided, however, That no property, language, or income qualification shall ever be imposed upon or required of any voter, nor shall any discrimination in qualification be made or based upon difference in race, color, sex, or religious belief.
(b)The legislature shall have authority to enact legislation establishing the voting age for residents of the Virgin Islands at an age not lower than eighteen years of age, if a majority of the qualified voters in the Virgin Islands approve in a referendum election held for that purpose.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1970—Pub. L. 91–460 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
48 U.S.C. § 1542
Title 48 — Territories and Insular Possessions
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73