A majority of voters in Puerto Rico approved a non-binding referendum that supports elevating the island territory to statehood status.
The referendum narrowly passed by a 52-48 margin.
The question was not the first time voters weighed in on Puerto Rico statehood. Most recently, 97% of voters approved statehood in 2017, but the vote was boycotted by opposition parties.
Several previous referenda were not a straight up statehood vote.
Given Puerto Rico’s status, the territory does not vote on US senators or representatives, although the territory elects a non-voting member who can serve on committees. Puerto Rico also does not get a vote in the presidential general election, but the territory does get a say in the Democratic and Republican primaries.
While Democrats would likely welcome the opportunity to make Puerto Rico a state, the likelihood of there being enough political support for Puerto Rico to be the 51st state is still doubtful.
WienerJungle on November 5th, 2020 at 03:15 UTC »
Merge North and South Dakota keep it at a nice even 50.
MisterChif910 on November 5th, 2020 at 03:07 UTC »
Puerto Rico shouldn't be a DLC
alabasterheart on November 5th, 2020 at 02:16 UTC »
Some background info: Puerto Rico has held statehood referendums in the past, but this is the first referendum with just a yes/no question on statehood, with yes winning by a 52-48 margin. Whether PR becomes a state or not is up to Congress to decide now, since in order for PR to become a state, Congress has to vote to admit PR into the Union.