United States Virgin Islands voting age referendum, 1970

United States Virgin Islands
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the United States Virgin Islands

A referendum on the voting age was held in the United States Virgin Islands on 3 November 1970.[1] After the Legislature of the Islands requested a referendum take place, it was approved by the United States Congress on 6 October 1970.[1] Voters were given the options of 18, 19, 20 or 21, and the winning option had to receive an absolute majority of the vote.[1] Although the results saw 55.67% vote in favour of setting the voting age at 18,[1] 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.[1]

Results

Choice Votes %
Age 187,46955.67
Age 197265.41
Age 202,06315.38
Age 213,15823.54
Blank votes2,575–
Invalid votes131–
Total16,122100
Registered voters/turnout19'75681.61
Source: Direct Democracy

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 American Virgin Islands, 3 November 1970: Voting rights age 21, 20 19 or 18 Direct Democracy (in German)
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