On March 15, the First Circuit, which includes Puerto Rico, ordered a rehearing in Igartua v United States, 04-2186. The plaintiffs insist that the U.S. Constitution, as well as international treaties signed by the U.S., requires the United States to let Puerto Rican citizens vote for president. The Puerto Rican plaintiffs had lost the case on October 14, 2004, by a vote of 2-1. Now the entire First Circuit will rehear the case.
The order setting up the rehearing wants the attorneys to address the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Inter-American Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The United States signed all three agreements, and pledged not to discriminate against any group of adult citizens in voting.
It is about time that the US citizens who live in Puerto Rico and the other territories are granted full voting rights. It is very ironic that an American citizen can move to any country in the world and still vote por President. For instance, an American can move to, say, Moscow, and can still vote for his/her state’s presidential electors.
However, if that same person moves to San Juan, Puerto Rico, loses the right to vote.
I support this suit. I believe that all Americans in our insular areas deserve the right to vote for President. Why should citizens in American Samoa, the CNMI, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico go to war if they can’t vote for the President who sent them there? Why can an American citizen move to Sydney and still be able to vote when they can move to Saipan and lose their voting rights?
See the irony?
I admire the courage of Attorney Gregorio Igartua for his continued efforts to obtain national political rights for the the more than 4 million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico. Hopefully, the seven judges in the First Circuit of Appeals will decide in favor of granting the right to vote in Presidential elections to Puerto Ricans.
This is so wrong on so many levels. Our government calls them citizens then does not call them a state. They are our citizens and such should be able to vote and pay taxes just like the rest of us. Maybe they are lucky because our so called democratic government is so coruppt with career politicians that don’t give a damn about us.