Puerto Rico’s governor is vowing to make the U.S. territory the 51st state following a landslide win on Sunday in a nonbinding referendum supporting statehood for the current U.S. territory, with 97 percent of participants voting for statehood. However, record-low voter turnouts may call into question the votes legitimacy.
Gov. Ricardo Rossello told supporters waving U.S. flags at a rally late Sunday afternoon that he will soon create a commission to appoint two senators and five representatives to demand statehood from the U.S. Congress, which has to approve any change in political status.
Voter turnout in the referendum was just 23 percent, which is the lowest level of participation in any election in Puerto Rico since 1967.
The main opposition party called upon its supporters to boycott the referendum, which may explain the lopsided result. The low turnout and the potentially unrepresented opposition brings the votes legitimacy into question.
Experts suggest that the current Republican-controlled U.S. Congress is unlikely to recognize the vote, much less act on it, since Puerto Ricans tend to vote Democratic.
The referendum coincided with the 100th anniversary of the United States granting citizenship to Puerto Ricans, though they are not allowed to vote in presidential elections, and their only congressional representative also has limited voting powers. Additionally, Puerto Ricans are exempt from paying income tax, although they still have to pay social security and Medicare and receive less funding from the federal government than U.S. states.
Puerto Rico has been facing an unprecedented recession for the last 10 years, which has caused almost half a million Puerto Ricans to emigrate to the U.S. mainland. There are many who believe that Puerto Rico’s territorial status is a major contributing factor to the declining economic situation on the island.
Puerto Rico has held four other referendums to determine their territorial status, with the most recent being in 2012. In all of them, no clear majority could be determined, although the voter participation was much greater than in Sunday’s election.
