Puerto Rican status referenda
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Puerto Rican Status Referenda have been held four times to determine the political status of the island of Puerto Rico in relation to the United States of America. Since the establishment of the current Commonwealth status in 1952, further attempts to change the island's political status were held in 1967, 1993, and 1998. An additional referendum in 1991 sought to amend the relationship through an amendment to the Puerto Rican constitution. Each time, the results favored retaining the commonwealth status over the possible Independence of Puerto Rico and Statehood. This article also discusses the role and opions of the close to 4 million stateside Puerto Ricans residing outside of Puerto Rico in this status process through the perspective of their leadership.
Although Puerto Rico presently has a considerable amount of local autonomy, according to the US constitution ultimate governance of the island is retained by both the US Congress and President. Thus, the plebiscite decisions, while they reflect public sentiment and thus bear some impact, they can be over-ridden by the U.S. Congress. Ultimately, the results of Puerto Rican plebiscite are opinions, although Congressional resolutions have expressed support for following the will of the Puerto Rican people.
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[edit] Puerto Rican politics
The main three political parties in Puerto Rico differ on the desired future political status of the island. These positions influence political affiliations at nearly all levels. The main parties and positions are:
- Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico(PPD)-Supports continued commonwealth status.
- New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (PNP)- Supports U.S. Statehood.
- Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP)- Supports Independence.
[edit] 1991 Constitutional Amendment Referendum
The 1991 Referendum on the proposed Claim to Democratic Rights asked the voters to approve the addition of an amendment to the Puerto Rican constitution. The wording of this amendment would guarantee:
- The inalienable right to freely and democratically determine Puerto Rico's political status.
- The right to choose a dignified, non-colonial, non-territorial status not subordinate to plenary powers of Congress.
- The right to vote for three alternatives.
- The right that only results with a majority will be considered triumphant in a plebiscite.
- The right that any status would protect Puerto Rico’s culture, language and identity, and continued independent participation in international sports events.
- The right that any status guarantees the individual’s right to American citizenship.
Passage of this referendum would have constituted a claim for the government of Puerto Rico to establish these rights in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico constitution and petition the President and Congress for these rights, but it was rejected by 660,300 (53%) to 559,200 (45%).[citation needed]
[edit] Choices
In general, three main alternatives are presented to Puerto Rican voters in status plebiscites:
- Full independence
- Maintenance or enhancement of commonwealth status
- Full statehood.
The exact expectations for each of these status formulas is a matter of debate by a given position's adherents and detractors. Puerto Rican have proposed positions that modify the alternatives above (2), such as:
- Indemnified Independence with phased-out US subsidy
- Expanded political but not fiscal autonomy
- Statehood with a gradual phasing out of federal tax exemption
[edit] Referenda Results (1967, 1993, and 1998)
Electoral results for Puerto Rican Status Referenda, recorded as thousands of votes (% total)[citation needed]
| 1967 | 1993 | 1998 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independence | 4.2 (00.6%) | 75.6 (04.5%) | 39.8 (02.5%) |
| Commonwealth | 425.1 (60.4%) | 826.3 (48.9%) | 5.0 (00.3%) |
| Statehood | 274.3 (39.0%) | 788.3 (46.6%) | 728.2 (46.7%) |
| None of the above | NA | NA | 787.9 (50.5%) |
| Electoral turnout | 74% | 71% |
[edit] Analysis of results
The exact significance of referendum results is debated by local observers. The 1967 results showed strong support for maintaining the commonwealth, but this victory was followed by the first loss in twenty years of governorship by the Popular Democratic Party, the main supporter of the commonwealth association. This occurred in part because of bickering leadership. The 1991 results appear to protest the ideas or forum used to change status as imposed by the then-ruling Popular Democratic Party; the demands were controversial because there was no assurance, and great doubt, that they would be accepted by Congress. The 1998 results, where "none of the above" was the winner, protested criteria set forth by the then ruling New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico. In general, one can observe that:
- Electoral turnout is high.
- Only a small minority has voted for Puerto Rican Independence
- Statehood sentiment, while increasing, is not favored by the majority.
- There is little momentum to change the status quo, given the absence of sustained supermajorities for any one choice.
[edit] Stateside Puerto Ricans and Status
Also see Puerto Ricans in the United States
In a 2004 study, the Atlas of Stateside Puerto Ricans, it was documented for the first time that there were now more Puerto Ricans residing stateside than in Puerto Rico, numbering 3.8 million in the United States (outside of Puerto Rico). Since the 1967 referendum, there have been demands that stateside Puerto Ricans be allowed to vote in these plebiscites on the political status of Puerto Rico. Since the 1990s, the role of stateside Puerto Ricans in advocating for Puerto Rico in Washington, DC on issues such as the Navy's removal from Vieques and others has increased, especially given that there are three full voting members of the US Congress who are stateside Puerto Ricans (two from New York City and one from Chicago), in contrast to Puerto Rico having a Resident Commissioner in the US Congress with no vote.
Between February 24th and March 6th in 2006, the National Institute for Latino Policy conducted an opinion survey over the Internet of a broad cross-section of stateside Puerto Rican community leaders and activists across the United States. The survey had a total of 574 respondents, including 88 non-Puerto Rican members of the Institute’s national network of community leaders.
The views of the 484 Puerto Ricans in the survey found broad support among them for the holding of a plebiscite on the future political status of Puerto Rico. While 73% were in favor of such a vote, they were split on the options to be voted upon. Those supporting the 2005 proposal made by the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status that the vote be ultimately limited to the options of Statehood versus Independence made up 31% of the total respondents. A larger group (43%) supported including the option of Commonwealth in the proposed plebiscite.
Commonwealth Unconstitutional? Despite support for the inclusion of the Commonwealth option in the proposed plebiscite, a majority (52%) of the Puerto Rican respondents felt that this option is unconstitutional and a vestige of colonialism. This negative view of the current political status of Puerto Rico by the Stateside Puerto Rican leadership reflects the strong support for Independence among them.
Although among the general Puerto Rican population, support for Independence is probably closer to what it is in Puerto Rico (about 5% or so), among the Stateside Puerto Rican leadership, according to the NiLP poll, 45% support Independence. This is consistent with past polls of Stateside Puerto Rican leaders conducted by the Institute in the late 1980s that found 44% of Stateside Puerto Rican leaders supporting Independence. Stateside Puerto Rican leaders’ support for independence was strongest in the Midwest (68%), the West (50%) and New York State (45%), and weakest in the South (24%) and the Northeast (outside of NYS) (39%). The South was the only region where Commonwealth was supported by the largest percentage of the Stateside Puerto Rican leadership (29%).
Support Stateside Puerto Ricans Voting in Plebiscite. US Congressman José Serrano has proposed that Puerto Ricans in the United States (outside of Puerto Rico) be allowed to vote in such a plebiscite if they are of voting age and were born in Puerto Rico. Close to half of the Stateside Puerto Rican leaders (48%) support this position, while another quarter (27%) believe that all Stateside Puerto Ricans of voting age should be able to vote in the plebiscite, whether or not they were born in Puerto Rico. On the other hand, close to a quarter of the Puerto Rican respondents (23%) do not believe Stateside Puerto Ricans should be allowed to vote in the proposed plebiscite, which they feel should be limited only to the residents of Puerto Rico.
Strongly Oppose FBI Raids in Puerto Rico. When asked about the recent FBI raids in Puerto Rico in 2005 against pro-independence activists, the Stateside Puerto Rican leadership overwhelmingly condemned these actions by the FBI. Three-quarters (75%) stated they opposed the raids and only 8% supported the FBI. Those indicating they didn’t know enough about the issue or didn’t care represented 17% of the total.
Asked if the FBI raids might taint the plebiscite process and make it impossible to have a fair vote on the status question, the largest percentage (35%) said that it wouldn’t. However, a majority had doubts with 25% saying it has tainted process and another 28% saying it may have.
