Not everyone is aware that during the general election in November, there will be an additional fifth ballot where voters can express their choice for the U.S. president symbolically.
This fifth ballot is colored violet and includes options for voters to choose between the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, or the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. Although Puerto Rico is a commonwealth and its residents are U.S. citizens, they are unable to participate in presidential elections.
The votes cast for president will not be counted and serve merely as a form of expression. This voting opportunity was made possible by an amendment to the electoral code.
In 2000, a legal action was initiated in the U.S. District Court of Puerto Rico arguing for the right to participate in federal presidential elections. The late federal judge Jaime Pieras ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, paving the way for U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico to vote in the presidential elections between former President George W. Bush and Al Gore. Following public hearings in the island’s Legislature, the government of Puerto Rico passed the Presidential Voting Law and printed two million ballots for the election. However, the Court of Appeals later overturned Pieras’ decision, according to pro-statehood lawyer Gregorio Igartúa.
“It’s important to note that had we voted, we would have influenced the outcome of the presidential election in the United States,” he stated. “After the ruling was reversed, we could still cast votes under Puerto Rican law even if they did not count nationally. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico halted the local presidential vote following a motion filed by [former Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Senator] Eudaldo Báez Galib.”
“In essence, it was insufficient for the PDP leadership that the presidential voting in Puerto Rico was not counted in the national elections, so they took it to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico to prevent us from voting, even symbolically.”
Nevertheless, according to Igartúa, the lawsuit from 2000 has now been justified.
Despite the opposition to allowing Puerto Ricans the opportunity to symbolically vote for the president back in 2000, “we will be able to do so on November 5, 2024, during the general elections,” he affirmed.
“This is in line with NPP [New Progressive Party] legislation from 2020 (Law 58-2020),” the attorney noted. “Thus, 24 years later, the undemocratic stance of Eudaldo Báez Galib and his undemocratic Popular Democratic Party, along with the then Supreme Court, has been overturned.”
