1970 United States Virgin Islands voting age referendum

Ballot measure in the US Virgin Islands A referendum on the voting age was held in the United States Virgin Islands on 3 November 1970.American Virgin Islands, 3 November 1970: Voting rights age 21, 20 19 or 18 Direct Democracy de After the Legislature of the Islands requested a referendum take place, it was approved by the United States Congress on 6 October 1970. Voters were given the options of 18, 19, 20 or 21, and the winning option had to receive an absolute majority of the vote. Although the results saw 55.67% vote in favor of setting the voting age at 18, when the blank votes were included, this dropped to 46.71%. A lawsuit was subsequently filed on 1 December 1970, and on 21 January 1971 a court decided that the blank ballots should be discarded, giving the 18 option an absolute majority of votes. Prior to the Elective Governor Acts of 1968, the governor of the US Virgin Islands was appointed. Melvin H. Evans was the first governor elected under the new system. Results ChoiceVotes%Age 187,46955.67Age 197265.41Age 202,06315.38Age 213,15823.54Blank votes2,575–Invalid votes131–Total16,122100Registered voters/turnout19'75681.61Source: Direct Democracy References Category:Referendums in the United States Virgin Islands Virgin Islands voting age referendum United States Virgin Islands voting age referendum Category:Suffrage referendums United States Virgin Islands voting age referendum Category:November 1970 in the United States