“The citizens of Puerto Rico have repeatedly expressed their desire for statehood, only to see their clear wishes overlooked by Congress, which seems indifferent to the disenfranchisement faced by over 3 million American residents on the island,” Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY) stated yesterday on X.
“The disenfranchisement stems not solely from the Republican Party (which is no surprise) but also from a condescending far left that thinks it alone understands what is best for the Puerto Rican populace. With allies like the far left, who needs adversaries?”
In response to one New York resident who said, “Puerto Ricans don’t desire statehood. Just look at the recent gubernatorial election as an example,” Rep. Torres corrected him. “A pro-statehood candidate won the governorship,” he noted. “Among those voters who participated in the status vote, statehood gained 57% support.”
Another critic of Torres lamented that “[t]he governing party removed the status quo choice from the ballot,” to which the Congressman responded that “[t]he status quo is colonialism, which denies equal representation and the right to vote.”
The critic retorted that “[c]ontinuing as a commonwealth has triumphed in many past referendums.”
Rep. Torres, who represents a congressional district in the Bronx with a substantial Puerto Rican population, contested his critic’s assertion regarding the “commonwealth’s” favorability and its historical ballot success by pointing out that the statehood option has prevailed in the last four plebiscite votes: 2012, 2017, 2020, and 2024. After some exchange, the congressman concluded the discussion by stating, “If you believe it is morally acceptable to deny 3 million American citizens equal representation in Congress, equitable federal funding, and the same voting rights in presidential elections, then our values simply differ.”
Disenfranchisement?
Torres’s mention of disenfranchisement carries significant weight. The inhabitants of Puerto Rico are effectively disenfranchised as they are unable to cast votes in presidential elections, lack senators, and are represented by just one non-voting Member in the House of Representatives. Unlike other U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans cannot vote for the congressional representatives responsible for their legislation.
The ability of Puerto Rico to conduct a plebiscite to explore changing its relationship with the U.S. while being powerless to enact those outcomes highlights another aspect of its disenfranchisement.
Even though a commenter argues that “taking away one of the most favored choices from the ballot, which is the status quo,” constitutes colonialism, the evidence presents a contrasting narrative. The “status quo,” representing Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory, is widely unpopular among Puerto Ricans. This option received a mere .06% of the vote when it appeared on the 1998 ballot and only 1.3% in the 2017 vote.
This lack of popularity, combined with the growing acknowledgment that Puerto Rico’s current condition is colonial and misaligned with U.S. democratic principles, underlies the decision to omit the status quo — often referred to as “commonwealth” — from the last two referendum ballots.
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