ST. CROSS — In recent weeks, the U.S. Virgin Islands have been increasingly adorned with signs, large and small, each promoting a different electoral candidate. With less than 24 hours until Election Day, Consortium journalists wanted to know what voters thought about their choices for representatives and the political environment in general.

We spoke to three St. Croix residents, and here’s what they had to say.

“I want to see a difference,” said Shanda Ramnarine, a Virgin Islander of Trinidadian descent. “The struggle is real and… there’s not much improvement, from what I can see.” Ms. Ramnarine says she is active in the political process, having participated in the party’s primaries earlier this year. One of his main concerns is the current billing crisis at the VI Water and Power Authority. She says whoever makes up the 36th Parliament must tackle the problem urgently. Another problem is the slow rollout of retroactive payments for former civil servants. “My husband worked for the government for over 30 years. He died and we are still waiting for the retrocessions that were granted to us.

Ms. Ramnarine says lawmakers have talked too long, but not enough action on key issues facing Virgin Islands residents. “We are tired of this. We want to see change,” she said, highlighting the plight of the homeless and elderly. “You remember them when you want their vote,” she chided the lawmakers. “Do we ever go there to visit them and see what their needs are?

Despite her frustrations with the slow progress on St. Croix and the Virgin Islands in general, Ms. Ramnarine was pragmatic about the prospects for change. She recognized that it was citizens who needed to put pressure on their elected officials – not just when they were campaigning, but throughout their term in office. She urged young voters not to be discouraged, stressing that change takes time and effort. “There is always hope, and with hope comes change,” she noted.

While Ms. Ramnarine waits Tuesday to vote, Charles D. Peters, an award-winning photographer and renowned architect, had already done so. He told the Consortium that he typically votes early to avoid crowds and to guard against a possible emergency.

Mr Peters said he was pleased with this year’s slate of candidates. “I’m pretty comfortable with what we have,” he remarked. “I’m happy with the level of intelligence we have on the rosters, on both sides of the aisle.”

Mr. Peters’ main concerns include “funding, education, agriculture and health, those are always my main concerns.” Some of the lawmakers he has supported over the years have done a “fantastic job” of resolving these key issues over the years, he believes, but Peters acknowledges there is still much work to be done .

The recent lack of robust economic growth on St. Croix is ​​due to one major factor, Peters said. “First, we lost our population growth. We lost big investors, a lot, and we lost a lot of talent, a brain drain happened. He believes that by focusing on facilitating entrepreneurship on the Big Island, we could help remedy this situation.

Like Ms Ramnarine before him, Mr Peters had a similar message for young voters. “The status quo is not going to change overnight,” he said, encouraging people to shut up and focus on the issues that matter to them. A change in electoral culture must also occur, says Peters. “We can’t just say I’m going to vote for him because he’s my friend, he’s my cousin… he’s my this and my that.” The key, Mr. Peter says, is to know and understand the issues facing people in the Virgin Islands. “People who vote need to be educated,” he argued, suggesting that younger voters sit down with their elders to discuss politics and strategy when it comes to making a decision regarding their elected leaders.

Aloy “Wenty” Nielsen is another early voter who chooses to do so to avoid crowds. “I don’t have to fight everyone who hands me little pamphlets and all that,” he joked. Its main problem is the economy. “I think we could do better,” the man said whose name adorns the Christiansted Bypass. He believes that the choice of his candidates is up to par. “I think they are capable of making the right decisions, or at least proposing legislation that could do so.”

Another major concern concerns the state of the territory’s road infrastructure. As the former director of the Federal Highway Assistance Program for the Virgin Islands, Mr. Nielsen says it “hurts me to see the state of the roads right now.” He claims that the Holy Cross is not being given due attention. “My understanding is that we don’t even have a deputy commissioner for the islands, which is totally ridiculous. Everything seems to be missing from the St. Thomas office. Noting that there are “twice as many kilometers of roads on Sainte-Croix” as on Saint-Thomas, Mr. Nielsen believes that elected officials must stop treating the large islands as “a kind of outpost” .

Recognizing that the executive branch of government is primarily responsible for the day-to-day administration of the territory, Mr. Nielsen nevertheless believes that Crucian lawmakers can do more to champion their island’s cause. “They could hold (the administration) to account much more than they do now,” he argued. “That’s the only way things will change – if you put pressure on them.”

This pressure, says Mr. Nielsen, cannot fall solely on legislators, however. “I and you, the voters, are not putting enough pressure on the administration. We are too accepting of what is happening. He called for greater public oversight of elected officials and said the public must hold its representatives accountable “all year round and every year,” suggesting that the formation of citizens’ committees could help channel that public scrutiny . “People need to be more active, more vocal. These are the kinds of things that put pressure on decision-making.