On August 3, the US Court of Appeals, first circuit (which includes most New England states and Puerto Rico) ruled 5-2 that no international treaty requires the U.S. to let Puerto Rican resident-citizens vote for president.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
Does this mean that the Puerto Rico presidential preference primary will no longer be held?
No, it just means that, at least for the time being, the US citizens from Puerto Rico will continue to be disenfranchised when it comes to participating in the general election.
The decision has no effect on the primaries, since they are based on decisions made by both major parties. Both the Democrats and Republicans have allocated delegates for Puerto Rico to their conventions since 1904. Puerto Rico has held presidential primaries since 1980.
The primaries held have been:
1980 — Dem & GOP
1984 — Dem
1988 — Dem & GOP
1992 — Dem & GOP
1996 — GOP (the Dem primary was not held because the local leadership disqualified LaRouche)
2000 — GOP (the Dem primary was not held because island Democratic leaders split the delegation 50/50 % between Gore and Bradley)
2004 — N/A (the Dem primary was scheduled for June but not held; the GOP primary was not held since only Bush qualified for the ballot).
If you want a vote in Presidential elections, become a state. I’d be more than happy to have PR as the 51st state but only states (and DC) should be allowed to vote. PR is merely a territory.
For the record btw, I support DC statehood (and 2 more Democratic Senators and one D rep as well :-))
The issue that was not resolved by this decision is the fact that we have signed treaties in which we require other countries to guarantee the right to vote to all their citizens.
The fact that Puerto Rico is a territory should not be a factor, but the fact that its residents are US citizens since 1917 and their US citizenship is good when it comes to defend democracy on the battlefield, but not when it comes to participating in the election of the Commander in Chief.
In my opinion, the situation should be decided by interpreting, just like in interpreting the interstate commerce clause, that the term “state” in the constitution, in the proceedings established to elect the president, includes both the several states and the territories where its residents are US citizens.
Obviously, I support Puerto Rico becoming a state.