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

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.