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Puerto Rico can become a US State anytime it wants just by holding a referendum and getting a majority vote. They have repeatedly chosen not to, probably becaus

by ciguy 6y ago

Puerto Rico can become a US State anytime it wants just by holding a referendum and getting a majority vote. They have repeatedly chosen not to, probably because they hold full uS citizenship, can live, work and travel freely to the states without a passport and overall hold all the rights of a US state with none of the tax obligations. If anything they are in a privileged position. That covers 3.5 million out of the approx 4 million residents of US territories. EDIT: For the idiots downvoting. I know that Puerto Rico held referendums, I lived there for a while and I know a lot of people in government. The most recent referendum was massively boycotted and got extremely low turn out. Because of this many politicians in Puerto Rico consider it invalid. Bottom line, way too many rich politicians in Puerto Rico benefit from the lack of taxes and oversight to allow statehood. If they want statehood they have to actually put together a delegation to handle the transition which they have NOT done yet.

monocasa 6y ago
> Puerto Rico can become a US State anytime it wants just by holding a referendum and getting a majority vote. What about these referendums? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Puerto_Rican_status_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Puerto_Rican_status_refer... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Puerto_Rican_status_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Puerto_Rican_status_refer...
- ciguy 6y ago
  I lived in Puerto Rico and know lots of people in government there. The lack of action is entirely down to the Puerto Rican government and has nothing to do with the USA federal government. Turnout in the referendums was too low for it to be considered valid, at least according to one of their major political parties. Too many rich people and politicians benefit from the lack of oversight and low taxes plus the corruption that results for them to allow statehood. If Puerto Ricans are serious about wanting statehood they can stop voting for these corrupt clowns anytime and vote in people that will complete the process of obtaining statehood.
  - monocasa 6y ago
    > Turnout in the referendums was too low for it to be considered valid, at least according to one of their major political parties. Turnout in the 2012 referendum was 78%.
    - readarticle 6y ago
      And turnout in the 2017 referendum was 23%. But on 2012: of 1,878,969 voters, 515,115 (27% of turnout) left the choice between statehood, independence, or free association blank at the behest of the PPD, who’s governor elect immediately asked President Obama to ignore the results due to ambiguity, while the outgoing PNP governor asked President Obama to begin the legislation process. It’s not even remotely as simplistic as you’re implying by dropping a 78% figure and flitting away without any further context, have the decency to at least read the links you’ve posted.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
- beerandt 6y ago
  And a local referendum is not how you become a state, Congressional approval is. A local referendum might help make that happen, but it's in no way the required legal mechanism or binding in any way. Article IV (in part): New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; ... 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;
chownie 6y ago
In 2012 62% voted for statehood, nothing resulted from it. They've voted in favour of becoming a state twice and nothing has resulted from it so far.
- ciguy 6y ago
  The referendums they held were boycotted by a huge majority of the population and due to the low turn out not considered valid. There is a VERY strong anti-statehood movement in puerto Rico and a minority that want full independence and a minority that want statehood. The Puerto Rican government chose not to pursue statehood based on the low turn out, but the option is still available to them anytime. This has nothing to do with the USA federal government and everything to do with Puerto Rican politics.
  - monocasa 6y ago
    The 2012 referendum had a 78% turnout of registered voters, and still had a majority for statehood.
    - chii 6y ago
      what proportion is registered voters vs the entire population of puerto rico?
    - _benedict 6y ago
      It's important to note that more than a quarter of these votes were spoiled on the statehood question, so the democratic legitimacy of that portion of the vote is quite reasonable to question. The effective turnout would have been about 57%. Were the spoiled ballots to have been counted only 44% of people casting a vote would have favoured statehood.
  - TheCoelacanth 6y ago
    Boycotting a vote is nonsense. If you want to have your voice heard, then vote. They were just trying to undermine the voting process because they knew they would lose.
hyko 6y ago
Yeah, and I’m sure slaves got three meals a day, a job for life etc. etc. Let’s agree that having different classes of citizenship is just a terrible idea for the precious values of freedom, justice, and democracy. No other argument really matters. Working backwards from that, we should eliminate any circumstance in our control that creates any special class of citizen, be they living in gilded cages or rusty iron ones.
cma 6y ago
Isn’t one of the rights of states to get two senators and some votes in the electoral college?

by ciguy 6y ago

monocasa 6y ago

> Puerto Rico can become a US State anytime it wants just by holding a referendum and getting a majority vote. What about these referendums? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Puerto_Rican_status_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Puerto_Rican_status_refer... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Puerto_Rican_status_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Puerto_Rican_status_refer...

ciguy 6y ago
I lived in Puerto Rico and know lots of people in government there. The lack of action is entirely down to the Puerto Rican government and has nothing to do with the USA federal government. Turnout in the referendums was too low for it to be considered valid, at least according to one of their major political parties. Too many rich people and politicians benefit from the lack of oversight and low taxes plus the corruption that results for them to allow statehood. If Puerto Ricans are serious about wanting statehood they can stop voting for these corrupt clowns anytime and vote in people that will complete the process of obtaining statehood.
- monocasa 6y ago
  > Turnout in the referendums was too low for it to be considered valid, at least according to one of their major political parties. Turnout in the 2012 referendum was 78%.
  - readarticle 6y ago
    And turnout in the 2017 referendum was 23%. But on 2012: of 1,878,969 voters, 515,115 (27% of turnout) left the choice between statehood, independence, or free association blank at the behest of the PPD, who’s governor elect immediately asked President Obama to ignore the results due to ambiguity, while the outgoing PNP governor asked President Obama to begin the legislation process. It’s not even remotely as simplistic as you’re implying by dropping a 78% figure and flitting away without any further context, have the decency to at least read the links you’ve posted.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
beerandt 6y ago
And a local referendum is not how you become a state, Congressional approval is. A local referendum might help make that happen, but it's in no way the required legal mechanism or binding in any way. Article IV (in part): New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; ... 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;

chownie 6y ago

In 2012 62% voted for statehood, nothing resulted from it. They've voted in favour of becoming a state twice and nothing has resulted from it so far.

ciguy 6y ago
The referendums they held were boycotted by a huge majority of the population and due to the low turn out not considered valid. There is a VERY strong anti-statehood movement in puerto Rico and a minority that want full independence and a minority that want statehood. The Puerto Rican government chose not to pursue statehood based on the low turn out, but the option is still available to them anytime. This has nothing to do with the USA federal government and everything to do with Puerto Rican politics.
- monocasa 6y ago
  The 2012 referendum had a 78% turnout of registered voters, and still had a majority for statehood.
  - chii 6y ago
    what proportion is registered voters vs the entire population of puerto rico?
  - _benedict 6y ago
    It's important to note that more than a quarter of these votes were spoiled on the statehood question, so the democratic legitimacy of that portion of the vote is quite reasonable to question. The effective turnout would have been about 57%. Were the spoiled ballots to have been counted only 44% of people casting a vote would have favoured statehood.
- TheCoelacanth 6y ago
  Boycotting a vote is nonsense. If you want to have your voice heard, then vote. They were just trying to undermine the voting process because they knew they would lose.

hyko 6y ago

Yeah, and I’m sure slaves got three meals a day, a job for life etc. etc. Let’s agree that having different classes of citizenship is just a terrible idea for the precious values of freedom, justice, and democracy. No other argument really matters. Working backwards from that, we should eliminate any circumstance in our control that creates any special class of citizen, be they living in gilded cages or rusty iron ones.

cma 6y ago

Isn’t one of the rights of states to get two senators and some votes in the electoral college?