On October 28, U.S. District Court Joan Gottschall issued her opinion in Segovia v Board of Election Commissioners for Chicago, n.d., 15c-10196. The plaintiffs are U.S. citizens who live in Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Even though they are citizens who formerly lived in Illinois, the state will not furnish them with overseas absentee ballots. But, due to an outdated Illinois law, former Illinois residents who are citizens and who move to American Samoa may receive Illinois overseas absentee ballots.
The 18-page decision says there is a rational reason for the Illinois policy.
Puerto Rico is a plantation colony.Independence for Puerto Rico.Yes I support the Puerto Rican Independence movement and so does the Puerto Rican Libertarian party.
Puerto Rico would be dead without US support, they need to be a state. Their economy isn’t large enough to be self-sufficient. At the very least they need permanent trade deals before independence could ever be considered; and that is likely to never happen. And even still, independence for Puerto Rico would mean they’d need US monetary support, military support, and free-trade and open migration deals resembling the EU. They need statehood and equal representation; not independence. Independence would be a death blow. Otherwise, they’d quickly be annexed by the Dominican Republic or Venezuela.
There are distinct legal differences between the status of American Samoa and the status of Puerto Rico within federal law. While both are unincorporated territories, American Samoa is unorganized and never had an Organic Act passed by the federal government. One major result of this is that people born on American Samoa are not United States Citizens by birth, but rather are merely United States Nationals. Very few people born outside of American Samoa fall into the category of being a United States National (people born on other unorganized US Territories such as Wake Island, people who have renounced their citizenship but not nationality, ect). I’m not sure if any of that has anything to do with the reasoning behind the ruling though.
@ Will Fenwick:
You are correct, and I believe that the distinction that you cited justifies the decision. I believe that citizens of the former US Trust Territories (Now Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau) who reside in Guam or the Northern Marianas are also US Nationals.
The decision also states:
“Former Illinois residents living in the NMI and American Samoa were
not similarly included in these definitions and thus could vote
absentee”
NMI refers to Northern Marianas Islands, which means that former Illinois residents living there CAN vote absentee in Illinois, even though the NMI is now an organized territory, and its residents are NOW US citizens.
Andrew McCarrick – The US does not need to provide military or economic support to an independent PR. PR’s economy is a mess, but that’s largely self inflicted and it can be healed on its own, if it wants. US proximity and historical ties to PR are enough to offer it military protection. There is zero chance the US government would allow – or Venezuela would think the US would allow – an annexation of PR. So no attempt would be made. No direct military aid would ever be necessary to prevent its annexation.
Costa Rica abolished its military back in 1949 and a number of islands in that area have nothing more than police and a coast guard. They rely on political ties to the US for indirect military protection.
Will Fenwick
There are two remainders of incorporated Territiories that
were incorporated in the past that had organic acts, but
currently have no governments that are organized, viz., Michigan Territory and Territory of Hawai’i. The is the Territory of Michias Seal Island that is made up of the Western Seal Island of which one is claimed by the
State of Maine and the other has an historic claim by
The Commonweath of Massachusetts. Which lie with
Current Washington County, Maine.
Unincorporated territory can also have an Organic Act.
Note Alaska as a District received from the United States
Government on May 17, 1884 an Organic Act that was drafted by Major Ezra Clark in December, 1883 at the request of Senator Harrison. With that Organic Act, Alaska got a limited for of Civil Government and the addition of 6 island to its territory, viz., Bennett, Forrester
(of the San Carlos Island), Henrietta, Herald, Jennette, &
Wrangell Island (fna New Columbia Land).
Oddly, though there is a distinction between Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands; and American Samoa, federal law treats them the same as far as not requiring federal ballots for former residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.
A previous federal law did make a distinction between American Samoa and Puerto Rico, and Illinois law tracks that law.
So an Illinois citizen who moves to American Samoa remains able to vote in Illinois at least for federal elections, but if they moved to Puerto Rico, they would.
Incidentally, the equivalent Texas statute (Election Code 114.001(3)) treats Guam, Northern Marianas, and American Samoa the same way; and Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands the other.
As soon as we all get electronic chip implants, they will be able to track physical presence, and not depend on the antiquated concept of domicile. If you fly across a state, you will have a microvote in elections for that state.
Jim Riley
This got me thinking about the status of Ted Cruz and him not getting naturalized under the laws of Texas. In
any case what is American Samoa needs to be looked at as four different territories, because the U. S. Government (U. S. Navy) took four separate territories
Including one being annexed in 1922 (a guano island).
During the “Birther” issue of Obama’s birth certificate it
came out that over 40 babies got birth certificates by the
Government of the State of Hawai’i because they were born on the island name Midway (a United States island
that was recognized by the Government of the Republic
of Hawai’i in the 19th Century as American territory in the
Hawaiian Islands).
natural born = nation-state ALLEGIANCE at birth – via father’s nation-state status.
naturalized = nation-state ALLEGIANCE change AFTER birth — by laws and all sorts of treaties — i.e. LA folks by 1803 treaty, FL folks by 1819 treaty, etc. etc. — in general folks in areas taken over by the USA regime were given an option to become USA citizens or to become legal resident aliens (subject to being arrested if a WAR happened between the U.S.A. and the foreign regime involved).
Much too difficult for the MORONS in the entire regime — esp. in the MORON SCOTUS brains.
—
Make ALL the slave colonies as a part of a State or make them independent nation-states — to collapse and merge with other regimes (if not able to economically survive on their own).
How many territories in USA history which became independent sovereign NATION-States ??? — starting with KY in 1791 — ex part of VA — in the SW Territory. Special case for VT – claimed by NY. Later 1803 OH in the old NW territory (with its screwed up Admission Act corrected in 1953)
I.E. all the stuff about A.S., V.I, P.R., etc. is political occult stuff.