Although the previous two referendums (November 2012 and June 2017) also had ostensibly pro-statehood outcomes, the New York Times described them as "marred, with ballot language phrased to favor the party in office".[3] For example, the fourth referendum, held in November 2012, asked voters (1) whether they wanted to maintain the current political status of Puerto Rico and, if not, (2) which alternative status they prefer. Of the fifty-four percent (54.0%) who voted "No" on maintaining the status quo, 61.11% chose statehood, 33.34% chose free association, and 5.55% chose independence.[4][5][6][7] Opponents of statehood argued that these results did not show that a majority of Puerto Rican voters support statehood. The June 2017 referendum was, according to the New York Times, a "flawed election" where the turnout was only 23% because most statehood opponents sat out. 97% of votes cast favored statehood.[3]
The November 2020 referendum, by contrast, was the first to ask voters a simple yes-or-no question: "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?". There were 655,505 votes in favor of statehood (52.52%) and 592,671 votes opposed (47.48%). The 55% turnout rate equaled that for the simultaneous 2020 gubernatorial race and the 2016 gubernatorial race.
Following the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States in 1898, through the signing of the Treaty of Paris.[8] Puerto Rico became an unincorporated, organized territory of the US with Commonwealth status through a series of judicial decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States, collectively known as "The Insular Cases" and the enactment of several statutes by Congress.[citation needed]
In 1900, the U.S. Congress enacted the Foraker Act, establishing a civil government in the territory and then in 1917, Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship, by the enactment of the Jones-Shafroth Act.[9] The Office of the President is responsible for policy relations between the United States and Puerto Rico, although according to the Territorial Clause of Constitution of the United States of America "The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States...".[10]
Potential benefits of statehood
Puerto Rico is, by a considerable margin, the largest U.S. territory in terms of both population and geographical area, being similar to Connecticut with respect to population size and geographical area.[citation needed] Puerto Rican residents do not participate in the Presidential elections because Puerto Rico does not have any electoral votes, but individual Puerto Ricans do have the right to vote when resident in a U.S. state. Statehood would allow the population to vote in all elections as the residents of states already can.[citation needed]
Other benefits to statehood include increased disability benefits and Medicaid funding as well as the higher (federal) minimum wage.[11]
The primary debate over Puerto Rican statehood is about representation. Some proposals seek to give it representation without statehood, giving it its apportioned representatives in the House and two Senators like a state without having to add that 51st star.[13]
Whether Puerto Rico is given statehood or simply apportioned members of Congress as a Commonwealth or territory, this will have an impact on the make-up of the House. As the Reapportionment Act of 1929 mandates the House be capped at 435 members, Puerto Rico would end up with Representatives that would otherwise have been apportioned to other states. The table to the right displays the differences in calculated apportionment (using the Huntington–Hill method) if apportionment was based on the estimated populations given by the Census Bureau in 2019. If only Puerto Rico was admitted, the following states would be projected to lose at least one seat: New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan.[14][15][16]
History
Since the transfer of sovereignty of Puerto Rico from Spain to the United States, the relationship between Puerto Rico and the US has been debated by many. On April 11, 1899, the peace treaty between Spain and the USA (the 1898 Treaty of Paris) became effective, and established a military government in Puerto Rico. This was short lived, since the following year (April 2, 1900) Congress enacted the Foraker Act, which established a civil government and free trade between Puerto Rico and the USA. Puerto Ricans, although incapable of electing members of the territory's executive branch, but were now able to elect their local representatives and a resident commissioner to the US Congress, who had voice but no vote.[17] In 1917, the enactment of the Jones-Shafroth Act the territory of Puerto Rico was organized and statutory US citizenship was granted to its residents.[17]
Since 1967, there have been several referendums, which included questions on statehood. Puerto Ricans chose not to alter the status quo in referendums until 2012. The 2012 referendum produced a more equivocal result.[18]
A referendum on the status of the island was held in Puerto Rico on July 23, 1967.[19] Voters were given the choice between being a Commonwealth, statehood or independence. The majority of voters voted for Commonwealth status, with a voter turnout of 65.9%.[20]
A referendum in December 1998 offered voters four political status options: statehood, independence, free association, and territorial commonwealth, plus "none of the above." The latter option won 50.5% of the vote, followed by statehood, with 46.6%.[21] Turnout was 71%.[22]
On November 6, 2012, eligible voters in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico were presented with two questions: (1) whether they agreed to continue with Puerto Rico's territorial status and (2) to indicate the political status they preferred from three possibilities: statehood, independence, or a sovereign nation in free association with the United States.[23] Voters who chose "No" to the first question numbered 970,910 (54.0%), expressing themselves against continuing the current political status, while those who voted "Yes" numbered 828,077 (46.0%), indicating their desire to continue the current political status relationship. Of those who answered the second question, 834,191 (61.2%) chose statehood, 454,768 (33.3%) chose free association, and 74,895 (5.5%) chose independence.[4][5]
The preferred status consultation did not include Puerto Rico's current status as a territory (Estado Libre Asociado as defined by the 1952 Constitution) as a choice, but instead an alternative named "E.L.A. Soberano"[24] President Barack Obama pledged to respect the voters' decision.[25]
In December 2012, the newspaper Caribbean Business allegedly obtained, from a White House source, a statement claiming that Obama urged Congress to act upon the referendum's results.[26]
In 2014, resolutions were introduced in both houses of the United States Congress (H.R. 2000; S. 2020) to hold a yes-or-no referendum among the residents of Puerto Rico on statehood. If a "yes" majority prevailed, the President would have been required to submit legislation to Congress enacting Puerto Rican statehood.[29][30] Both resolutions died in committee.[31]
Because there were almost 500,000 blank ballots in the 2012 referendum, creating confusion as to the voters' true desire, Congress decided to ignore the results.[32] The 2014 budget bill included $2.5 million in funding for a future referendum; there was no deadline attached to the funds.[33][34]
The fifth referendum, entitled "Plebiscite for the immediate decolonization of Puerto Rico" was held on June 11, 2017 and offered three options: "Statehood", "Free Association/Independence" and "Current Territorial Status", and the U.S. Justice Department required Puerto Rico to add the territorial status as an option as a requirement to release the $2.5 million funds set aside by the Obama administration to help educate the population on any future plebiscite, however the vote was held before the ballot could be reviewed, so the funds were not released. Newly elected Governor Ricardo Rosselló is strongly in favor of statehood for Puerto Rico to help develop the economy and help to "solve our 500-year-old colonial dilemma... Colonialism is not an option... It’s a civil rights issue ... 3.5 million citizens seeking an absolute democracy," he told the news media.[32] Benefits of statehood include an additional $10 billion per year in federal funds, the right to vote in presidential elections, higher Social Security and Medicare benefits, and a right for its government agencies and municipalities to file for bankruptcy. The latter is currently prohibited.[35]
The turnout was only 23% because statehood opponents boycotted.[3] A boycott of the vote was led by the citizenry at large[citation needed], citing discontent over never-ending non-binding referendums, and protesting Ricardo Rosselló's pro-statehood administration's choice to spend public funds in subsidizing this vote when the island was in the midst of a devastating fiscal crisis and battered by the imposed austerity measures of a non-elected fiscal control board regarded as the height of colonial imposition [by whom?]. Some would later try to attribute the boycott to the PPD party, citing its support for the status quo.[36] The numbers, however, do not support the notion that the boycott was divided along party lines.[citation needed] Of the minimal number of voters who participated, 97.18% chose statehood, 1.50% favored independence and 1.32% chose to maintain the commonwealth status.
At approximately the same time as the referendum, Puerto Rico's legislators are also expected to vote on a bill that would allow the Governor to draft a state constitution and hold elections to choose senators and representatives to the U.S. Congress.[35]
In June 2018, Rep. Jenniffer González filed a bill that would have paved the way for Puerto Rico to become a state in 2021; the bill was not acted upon after introduction.[37]
United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization
Since 1953, the UN has been considering the Political status of Puerto Rico and how to assist it in achieving "independence" or "decolonization". In 1978, the Special Committee determined that a "colonial relationship" existed between the US and Puerto Rico.[38]
The UN's Special Committee has often referred to Puerto Rico as a nation in its reports, because, internationally, the people of Puerto Rico are often considered to be a Caribbean nation with their own national identity.[39][40][41] Most recently, in a June 2016 report, the Special Committee called for the United States to expedite the process to allow self-determination in Puerto Rico. More specifically, the group called on the United States to expedite a process that would allow the people of Puerto Rico to exercise fully their right to self-determination and independence. ... [and] allow the Puerto Rican people to take decisions in a sovereign manner, and to address their urgent economic and social needs, including unemployment, marginalization, insolvency and poverty".[42]
This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2021)
A bill (H.R. 4901) for Puerto Ricans to vote "yes" or "no" on statehood was introduced on October 29, 2019 by Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources on the same day and is still awaiting review by the committee.[43] If it passes, the vote would be scheduled for November 3, 2020.[44]
A corresponding bill in the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico that would implement the vote, known in English as the Law for the Final Definition of the Political Status of Puerto Rico (P.S. 1467), was approved by both houses on March 31, 2020, and sent to the Governor for signature.[45] The single question is, "Should Puerto Rico be immediately admitted into the Union as a state?", with only two options: "yes" or "no".[46]
On May 16, 2020, Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced announced that a referendum on Puerto Rico's statehood would be held in November. For the first time in the territory's history, only one direct question was asked: "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?"[47] Previous referendums presented multiple options such as independence or maintaining the current territorial status. The announcement came amid growing disillusionment with Puerto Rico's territorial status due to the lack of access to federal funds for recent natural disasters, such as Hurricane Maria and the COVID-19 pandemic.[48]
The referendum was held on November 3 as part of the 2020 United States elections. The pro-statehood side won. There were 655,505 votes in favor of statehood (52.52%) and 592,671 votes opposed (47.48%).[2]
The 1940 Democratic Party platform expressed their support to a larger measure of self-government leading to statehood for Puerto Rico.
The Democratic platform of 1940 said:
We favor a larger measure of self-government leading to statehood, for Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. We favor the appointment of residents to office, and equal treatment of the citizens of each of these three territories. We favor the prompt determination and payment of any just claims by Indian and Eskimo citizens of Alaska against the United States.[49]
I believe that the appropriate status for Puerto Rico is statehood. I propose, therefore, that the people of Puerto Rico and the Congress of the United States begin now to take those steps which will result in statehood for Puerto Rico. I will recommend to the 95th Congress the enactment of legislation providing for the admission of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union.[50]
I favor statehood for Puerto Rico and if the people of Puerto Rico vote for statehood in their coming referendum I would, as President, initiate the enabling legislation to make this a reality.[51]
There's another issue that I’ve decided to mention here tonight. I’ve long believed that the people of Puerto Rico should have the right to determine their own political future. Personally, I strongly favor statehood. But I urge the Congress to take the necessary steps to allow the people to decide in a referendum.[52]
President George H. W. Bush issued a memorandum on November 30, 1992, to heads of executive departments and agencies, establishing the current administrative relationship between the federal government and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This memorandum directs all federal departments, agencies, and officials to treat Puerto Rico administratively as if it were a state insofar as doing so would not disrupt federal programs or operations.[52]
On December 23, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed executive Order 13183, which established the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status and the rules for its membership. Section 4 of executive Order 13183 (as amended by executive Order 13319) directs the Task Force to "report on its actions to the President ... on progress made in the determination of Puerto Rico's ultimate status." President George W. Bush signed an additional amendment to Executive Order 13183 on December 3, 2003, which established the current co-chairs and instructed the Task Force to issue reports as needed, but no less than once every two years.
Both the Democratic Party and Republican Party, in their respective 2008 party platforms, have expressed their support of the rights of the United States citizens in Puerto Rico to determine the destiny of the Commonwealth to achieve a future permanent non-territorial political status with government by consent and full enfranchisement.[53][54]
We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state after they freely so determine. We recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the constitutionally valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a state, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referendums sponsored by the U.S. government.[55][56][57]
We believe that the people of Puerto Rico have the right to the political status of their choice, obtained through a fair, neutral, and democratic process of self-determination. The White House and Congress will work with all groups in Puerto Rico to enable the question of Puerto Rico's status to be resolved during the next four years.[58]
As President Obama said when he became the first President to visit Puerto Rico and address its people in 50 years, Boricuas every day help write the American story. Puerto Ricans have been proud American citizens for almost 100 years. During that time, the people of Puerto Rico have developed strong political, economic, social, and cultural ties to the United States. The political status of Puerto Rico remains an issue of overwhelming importance, but lack of resolution about status has held the island back. It is time for Puerto Rico to take the next step in the history of its status and its relationship to the rest of the United States. The White House Task Force Report on Puerto Rico has taken important and historic steps regarding status. We commit to moving resolution of the status issue forward with the goal of resolving it expeditiously. If local efforts in Puerto Rico to resolve the status issue do not provide a clear result in the short term, the President should support, and Congress should enact, self-executing legislation that specifies in advance for the people of Puerto Rico a set of clear status options, such as those recommended in the White House Task Force Report on Puerto Rico, which the United States is politically committed to fulfilling. The economic success of Puerto Rico is intimately linked to a swift resolution of the status question, as well as consistent, focused efforts on improving the lives of the people of Puerto Rico. We have made great progress for Puerto Rico over the past four years, including a sharp, historic increase in Medicaid funding for the people of Puerto Rico and fair and equitable inclusion in the Recovery Act and the Affordable Care Act. Going forward, we will continue working toward fair and equitable participation for Puerto Rico in federal programs. We support increased efforts by the federal government to improve public safety in Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, with a particular emphasis on efforts to combat drug trafficking and crime throughout our Caribbean border. In addition, consistent with the task force report, we will continue to work on improving Puerto Rico's economic status by promoting job creation, education, health care, clean energy, and economic development on the Island.[59]
The latest report by the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status recommends that all relevant parties–the President, Congress, and the leadership and people of Puerto Rico–work to ensure that Puerto Ricans are able to express their will about status options and have that will acted upon by the end of 2012 or soon thereafter.[60]
The report further recommends, "If efforts on the Island do not provide a clear result in the short term, the President should support, and Congress should enact, self-executing legislation that specifies in advance for the people of Puerto Rico a set of acceptable status options, including the Statehood, that the United States is politically committed to fulfilling. This legislation should commit the United States to honor the choice of the people of Puerto Rico (provided it is one of the status options specified in the legislation) and should specify the means by which such a choice would be made. The Task Force recommends that, by the end of 2012, the Administration develop, draft, and work with Congress to enact the proposed legislation."[60]
Statehood supporters
Congressman Ruben Gallego speaking in support of Puerto Rican statehood in 2019.
The politics of Puerto Rico take place in the framework of a democratic republic form of government that is under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United States as an organized unincorporated territory. Since the 1898 invasion of Puerto Rico by the United States during the Spanish–American War, politics in Puerto Rico have been significantly shaped by its status as territory of the United States. The nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States is the subject of ongoing debate in Puerto Rico, in the United States, the United Nations and the International Community, with all major political parties in the archipelago calling it a colonial relationship.
Puerto Ricans are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and their descendants. Puerto Rico is home to people of many different national origins as well.
"51st state", in post-1959 American political discourse, is a phrase that refers to areas or locales that are—seriously or facetiously—considered candidates for U.S. statehood, joining the 50 states that presently compose the United States. The phrase has been applied to external territories as well as parts of existing states which would be admitted as separate states in their own right.
The independence movement in Puerto Rico refers to initiatives by inhabitants throughout the history of Puerto Rico to obtain full political independence for the island, first from the Spanish Empire, from 1493 to 1898 and, since 1898, from the United States. A variety of groups, movements, political parties, and organizations have struggled for Puerto Rico's independence over the centuries.
The United States-Puerto Rico Political Status Act (1998) was a bill proposed in the United States Congress to help refine the political status of Puerto Rico. The senior sponsor of the bill was Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska. While a version was approved in the House, it failed to reach a vote in the Senate.
The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people between 430 BC and 1000 AD. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taínos. The Taíno people's numbers went dangerously low during the later half of the 16th century because of new infectious diseases carried by Europeans, exploitation by Spanish settlers, and warfare.
The Puerto Rico Democracy Act is a bill to provide for a federally sanctioned self-determination process for the people of Puerto Rico.
The political status of Puerto Rico is that of an unincorporated territory of the United States. As such, the island of Puerto Rico is neither a sovereign nation nor a U.S. state. Because of that ambiguity, the territory, as a polity, lacks certain rights but enjoys certain benefits that other polities have or lack. For instance, in contrast to U.S. states, Puerto Rico residents cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections nor can they elect their own senators and representatives to the U.S. Congress. On the other hand, in contrast to U.S. states, only some residents of Puerto Rico are subject to federal income taxes. The political status of the island thus stems from how different Puerto Rico is politically from sovereign nations and from U.S. states.
The Popular Democratic Party is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates to continue as a Commonwealth of the United States with self-government. The party was founded in 1938 by dissidents from the Puerto Rican Liberal Party and the Unionist Party and originally promoted policies on the center-left. In recent years, however, its leaders have described the party as centrist.
A referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico was held on December 13, 1998. Voters were given the choice between statehood, independence, free association, being a territorial commonwealth, or none of the given options. A majority voted for the latter, with a turnout of 71.3%.
A referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico was held in Puerto Rico on November 6, 2012. It was the fourth referendum on status to be held in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has been an unincorporated territory of the United States since the Spanish–American War in 1898.
The proposed political status for Puerto Rico encompasses the different schools of thought on whether Puerto Rico, currently a Commonwealth of the United States, should change its current political status. Although there are many differing points of view, there are four that emerge in principle: that Puerto Rico maintains its current status, becomes a state of the United States, becomes fully independent, or becomes a freely associated state.
The free association movement in Puerto Rico refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at changing the current political status of Puerto Rico to that of a sovereign freely associated state. Locally, the term soberanista refers to someone that seeks to redefine the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States to that of a compact with full sovereignty. The term is mostly used in reference to those that support a compact of free association or a variation of this formula, commonly known as Estado Libre Asociado (ELA) Soberano, between Puerto Rico and the United States. Members of the independence movement that are willing to pursue alliances with this ideology are occasionally referred to as such, but are mostly known as independentistas. Consequently, soberanismo then became the local name for the free association movement.
The status quo movement in Puerto Rico refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at maintaining the current political status of Puerto Rico, that of a commonwealth of the United States.
Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory within the United States. As such, the island is neither a U.S. state or a sovereign nation. Due to the territory's ambiguous status, there are ongoing disputes regarding how Puerto Rico should be governed. Both major United States political parties,, have expressed their support for the U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico to exercise their right to self-determination, with the Republican Party platform explicitly mentioning support for right to statehood and the Democratic Party platform voicing broader support for right to self-determination. Puerto Rico has been under U.S. sovereignty for over a century and Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917, but the island's ultimate status still has not been determined and its 3.9 million residents do not have voting representation in their national government.
Three main alternatives are generally presented to Puerto Rican voters during a Puerto Rico political status plebiscite: full independence, maintenance or enhancement of the current commonwealth status, and full statehood into the American Union. The exact expectations for each of these status formulas are a matter of debate by a given position's adherents and detractors. Puerto Ricans have proposed positions that modify the three alternatives above, such as (a) indemnified independence with phased-out US subsidy, (b) expanded political but not fiscal autonomy, and (c) statehood with a gradual phasing out of federal tax exemption.
The Territories Clause of the United States Constitution allows for Congress to "dispose of" Puerto Rico and allow it to become independent of the U.S. or, under the authority of the Admissions Clause for it to be admitted as a state of the United States.
A referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico was held in Puerto Rico on June 11, 2017. The referendum had three options: becoming a state of the United States, independence/free association, or maintaining the current territorial status. Those who voted overwhelmingly chose statehood by 97%. This figure is attributed to a boycott led by the pro-status quo PPD party, which resulted in a 22.93% turnout.
A referendum of the status of Puerto Rico was held on November 3, 2020, concurrently with the general election. It was announced by Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced on May 16, 2020. This was the sixth referendum held on the status of Puerto Rico, with the previous one having taken place in 2017. This was the first referendum with a simple yes-or-no question, with voters having the option of voting for or against becoming a U.S. state. The New Progressive Party (PNP), of whom Vázquez is a member, supports statehood, while the opposition Popular Democratic Party (PDP) and Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) oppose it.
The Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act is a bill introduced during the 116th United States Congress. The intention of the bill is to grant Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, admission into the Union as a state.
References
↑ <José Trías Monge. Puerto Rico: the trials of the oldest colony in the world. New Haven, CT; London, England: Yale University Press, 1999. p. 4.
↑ "Population, Population Change, and Estimated Components of Population Change: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019 (NST-EST2019-alldata)". Census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
↑ López, Ana M. (2014). "Puerto Rico at the United Nations". The North American Congress on Latin America. The North American Congress on Latin America. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
↑ "GOP Platform". June 28, 2010. Archived from the original on November 26, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
↑ Republican National Committee. "2016 Republican Platform"(PDF). 2016 Republican Platform. GOP. Archived(PDF) from the original on May 3, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
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