The U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico exercised their democratic right yesterday in a locally sponsored, island-wide vote on the territory’s political status. Based on election night results, over 56% of voters supported statehood, showing Puerto Ricans favor statehood by more than 26-point margin over the other options on the ballot: independence and independence with free association. The Puerto Rico Statehood Council (PRSC) lauded the historic election night results and anticipates their certification by the Puerto Rico State Elections Commission (PRSEC) in the coming days. This marks the fourth time this century where statehood has gained majority voter support in Puerto Rico, cementing a clear and consistent trend and a loud message calling for Congress to take action.
“The U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico have made it loud and clear that they want full democracy, federal voting rights and full equality through statehood for their future. But for the island’s undemocratic and unequal territory status to end Congress must now legislate,” said George Laws Garcia, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Statehood Council. “Puerto Rican voters have spoken in a free, fair and secure election with great turnout. This is a clear mandate for Congress to pass legislation to offer voters on the island a definitive and binding choice to resolve the scourge of territorial colonialism in Puerto Rico.”
Voters in Puerto Rico previously called for statehood in 2012, 2017 and 2020. Yesterday, PRSEC reported that statehood won with 56.8% support, while the other two ballot options, independence and independence with free association, only received 12.3% and 30.8%, respectively. Voter turnout for this status plebiscite was 57%, which is similar to that for the general election, highlighting the importance of resolving the status issue to island residents and the failure of calls for a boycott of the plebiscite by some local parties.
The three non-territorial status options, which were presented to voters on the ballot in plain Spanish and English, used the exact definitions from legislation that passed the House in 2022 with an endorsement from the White House, the Puerto Rico Status Act (H.R. 8393). That legislation was reintroduced in the current Congress (S. 3231/H.R. 2757) and has 100 bipartisan co-sponsors in the House and a historic 27 co-sponsors in the U.S. Senate. This vote gives Congress a clear indication of what Puerto Rico voters would favor when given a definitive choice among non-territorial options.
Further highlighting the mandate from voters on the island was the victory of pro-statehood candidate for Governor, Hon. Jenniffer González-Colón, and other statehood candidates including the election of pro-statehood majorities in Puerto Rico’s House and Senate. Due to Puerto Rico’s political parties being organized around the status question, Tuesday night represented a historic moment as Puerto Ricans affirmed again their preference for statehood and for a majority of candidates on the island to advance that mandate. It’s worth noting though, that the statehood option got more votes than any candidate in the election, so in Puerto Rico statehood has the biggest mandate of them all.
“We urge Congress to listen to the mandate of Puerto Rico’s voters and take action on legislation to grant Puerto Ricans a legally binding vote among the non-territorial options. With recent national polling showing that a 59% majority of Americans support Puerto Rico’s admission as a state, Congress must now do its part to empower the 3.2 million U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico and live up to America’s founding values of government by consent of the governed,” concluded Laws Garcia
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The Puerto Rico Statehood Council is a Washington, D.C. based, non-partisan, 501(c)4 non-profit issue advocacy organization. We are dedicated to advancing the goal of full equality and democracy for the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico through statehood.