The polls are officially closed and counting is under way throughout the districts.
Beacon reporters will be posted at polling stations throughout the night as the numbers roll in.
Among the territory’s most closely watched districts are the Second and Ninth, where constituents are guaranteed a new representative, and Virgin Islands Party stronghold districts one and three.
After district ballots are counted at each polling station, the action will move to the Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall, where the at-large ballots will be tallied.
All told, 42 people ran in the election: 16 at-large candidates and 26 contenders for the territory’s nine electoral districts.
UPDATES:
2:05 p.m.: Final results are in for the at-large race. NDP incumbents Myron Walwyn, Dr. Orlando Smith, Ronnie Skelton and Archibald Christian made a clean sweet with 5,777, 5,753, 5,342, and 4,659 votes, respectively.
11:18 a.m.: Though the NDP recaptured the government in the early morning hours when Dr. Hubert O’Neal won the Ninth District, at-large ballots are still being counted. So far, NDP candidates Myron Walwyn, Dr. Orlando Smith, Ronnie Skelton and Archibald Christian lead the race with 4,306, 4,292, 3,974 and 3,477 votes, respectively. VIP candidate Dr. Karl Dawson trails in fifth place by a distant 904 votes.
1:17 a.m.: NDP candidates Myron Walwyn (286), Dr. Orlando Smith (266), Ronnie Skelton (259) and Archibald Christian (186) are leading in all four at-large seats, with fifth-place candidate VIP member Dr. Karl Dawson trailing with 121 votes. Other candidates in the running include VIP nominees Irene Penn-O’Neal (119) and Sharie DeCastro (102).
12:55 a.m.: The National Democratic Party has captured six of the eight district seats that have been counted: districts Two, Four, Five, Six, Seven and Eight. The only district where tallying hasn’t been concluded is District Nine, where NDP nominee Dr. Herbert O’Neal leads VIP nominee Elton Sprauve 301-138.
11:22 p.m.: Winners are starting to roll in. Incumbents Andrew Fahie, Mark Vanterpool, Delores Christopher and Marlon Penn have retained their seats in districts One, Four, Five, and Eight, respectively.
10:52 p.m.: D-3 incumbent and VIP Chairman Julian Fraser has retained his seat 596-561 over NDP challenger Kevin Smith.
10:41 p.m.: In D-2, voters have reportedly “made the switch to Mitch,” as NDP candidate Melvin Mitch Turnbull has captured enough votes to make him the next Second District representative. Finally tally: Mr. Turnbull 600, VIP nominee Rajah Smith 25, PEP nominee Elford Parsons 251.
10:25 p.m.: It’s getting closer in D-3. VIP incumbent Julian Fraser was leading NDP challenger Kevin Smith 451-387 after four tallies. Mr. Fraser’s lead has narrowed to 520-487 after the fifth tally.
10:19 p.m.: With voting in D-7 just beginning, NDP incumbent Kedrick Pickering has taken an early 40-16 lead over VIP challenger Oleanvine Pickering-Maynard; in D-9, NDP nominee Dr. Hubert O’Neal holds the lead with 81 votes over VIP challenger Elton Sprauve (42), independent Vernon Vanterpool (37), and a number of other challengers.
10:02 p.m.: In D-3, VIP incumbent Julian Fraser extends his lead over NDP challenger Kevin Smith 451-387; in D-8, NDP incumbent has a commanding 567-128 lead over VIP challenger McLloyd Walters; in D-5, NDP incumbent Delores Christopher has 419 votes, leading over VIP challenger Zoe Walcott-McMillan (297) and independent Shabazz Abdul (20); halfway through the D-1 polling, VIP incumbent Andrew Fahie has 385 votes, leading NDP challenger Shaina Smith (126) and independent Preston Stoutt (32).
9:55 p.m.: Polling in Anegada has concluded. NDP’s Dr. Hubert O’Neal has taken 42 votes, leading independent Vernon Vanterpool (37), VIP nominee Elton Sprauve (13), independent Albert Wheatley (5), PEP nominee Faye Reese-Charles (1), and independent Stephanie Faulkner-Williams (1).
9:41 p.m.: With polling closed in Brewers Bay and Jost Van Dyke, NDP’s Melvin Mitch Turnbull leads with 339 over PEP’s Elford Parsons (212) and the VIP’s Rajah Smith (19). There are only the ballots from Cane Garden Bay remaining to be counted.
9:36 p.m.: Counting on Anegada is under way, with NDP’s Dr. Hubert O’Neal taking 20 votes over VIP’s Elton Sprauve (4) and independent Vernon Vanterpool (16).
9:29 p.m.: Counting in the Ninth District has just begun, with NDP candidate Dr. Herbert O’Neal taking an early lead with 15 votes; in D-3, Julian Fraser stretches his lead over Kevin Smith 373-287.
9:20 p.m.: In D-2, polling in Jost Van Dyke has concluded. So far, the NDP’s Melvin Mitch Turnbull leads with 262 votes over PEP’s Elford Parsons (152) and the VIP’s Rajah Smith (16).
9:08 p.m.: With polling at Carrot Bay coming to a close, incumbent Andrew Fahie holds his D-1 lead with 265 votes over Shaina Smith (68) and Preston Stoutt (11).
9 p.m.: In D-3, Julian Fraser leads Kevin Smith 273-233; and in D-6, Alvera Maduro Caines leads Elvis Harrigan 149-43.
8:47 p.m.: Tallying at the Long Trench polling station has concluded, with incumbent Delores Christopher taking 220 votes over Zoe Walcott-McMillan (119) and Shabazz Abdul (11).
8:40 p.m.: In the Fourth District, Mark Vanterpool leads JoAnn Romney 120-20; in D-1, Andrew Fahie leads with 120 over Shaina Smith (39) and Preston Stoutt (7); and in D-8, Marlon Penn leads McLloyd Walters 227-45.
8:26 p.m.: Fourth District incumbent Mark Vanterpool has pulled ahead early with 80 votes to VIP challenger JoAnn Romney’s 15; in the First District, Andrew Fahie maintains his lead with 120 votes over NDP’s Shaina Smith (23) and independent Preston Stoutt (6).
8:20 p.m.: With counting under way in many districts, early results are as follows: In the Third District, incumbent Virgin Islands Party candidate Julian Fraser leads National Democratic Party challenger Kevin Smith 100-76; In the Second District, NDP candidate Melvin Mitch Turnbull leads with 20, followed by People’s Empowerment Party candidate Elford Parsons with 8 and VIP’s Rajah Smith with 2; In the Fifth District, NDP incumbent Delores Christopher leads with 142, followed by Zoe Walcott-McMillan with 72; in the Eighth District, NDP incumbent Marlon Penn leads VIP challenger McLloyd Walters 147-31; in the Fourth District, NDP incumbent Mark Vanterpool has an early 20-6 lead over VIP challenger JoAnn Romney; and in the Sixth District, NDP incumbent Alvera Maduro Caines leads VIP challenger Elvis Harrigan 28-10; and in the First District, VIP incumbent Andrew Fahie leads the race over NDP challenger Shaina Smith (19) and independent Preston Stoutt (5).