second stage of voting. Act 5712 now provided for a run-off between the top two status
choices if this were required to achieve a majority. As a result, it is conceivable that
Virgin Islands' voters could be faced with four separate referenda before a specific
option is finally selected.

 The last change made by Act 5712 appears innocuous, but in fact has serious
significance. It requires that a study of the issue of voting eligibility be made by the
Commission and its findings submitted to the Legislature.

 The basis for this legislative action is a concern that was expressed in the
course of the political status public education campaign conducted prior to Hurricane
Hugo and shared by some members of the Commission. Under present-day Virgin
Islands election laws, a residency of 90 days is required to participate in an election,
including referenda. If this legal requirement applied to the status voting, it would
mean that members of the population with relatively shallow ties to the Virgin Islands
would be participating in an act of self-determination that could shape the essential
political nature of the community for generations. While there are those who believe
that U.S. citizenship and American constitutional requirements should suffice to
resolve the issue in favor of the 90 day requirement, others who view the issue of
status choice from a more international perspective believe that different criteria
should apply. Thus, even before the status voting has been held basic differences are
emerging on the issue of who should participate in it, which in turn is based on
fundamental differences in the definitions of what is at stake and the nature of the
referendum itself.

 What will the future hold for the political status process? At present the amount
of knowledge about political status choices is limited. The issues appear legalistic and
complicated. There is a great deal of confusion about not only the complicated
process itself, but about the significance of the issues for the daily life of the average
citizen. Most debate and discussion is still confined to a relatively small circle of
activists and academicians. The public education campaign of the revitalized
Commission on Status and Federal Relations faces a real challenge. Unlike
neighboring Puerto Rico, where political parties are organized around status options,
and the debate has been taking place for generations, the issues are relatively new in
the Virgin Islands and the political leadership largely quiescent.

 Yet the world has changed profoundly since 1917, and the currents of change
will continue to be felt in the Virgin Islands. If political status is an act of self-
determination on the part of a people, then we must ask, who are the "people" of the
Virgin Islands who will be engaging in this act of self-definition? Not only is status not
now a widely discussed issue, but the community that will be discussing it is itself
divided. The perennial question of Virgin Islands politics is, who is a Virgin Islander?
Until that issue is settled, then it is difficult to see how self-determination can occur,
because the very definition of the "people" involved is unresolved. The issue of
political status may remain unsettled long after the scheduled referenda are held.


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