2012 Puerto Rican status referendum

A referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico was held in Puerto Rico on November 6, 2012. Puerto Rico has been an unincorporated territory of the United States since the Spanish-American War in 1898.

In the referendum, Puerto Rican voters were asked (1) whether they agreed to continue with Puerto Rico's territorial status and (2) asked to indicate the political status they preferred from three possibilities: statehood, independence, or a sovereign nation in free association with the United States. 54% of voters answered "No" to the first question, expressing themselves against maintaining the current political status. On the second question, 805,155 (61.13%) voters chose statehood, 438,896 (33.32%) of the voters chose free association, and 72,978 (5.54%) chose independence. 470,032 voters left the second question blank. The governor-elect Alejandro García Padilla and several other leaders who favor the present status had recommended voting "Yes" to the first question, and leaving the second question blank in protest to what they claimed was "an anti-democratic process" and "a trap".

Puerto Rico's nonvoting Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, has said that he will "defend the people's decision" in Washington, DC and that he will introduce legislation in Congress to admit Puerto Rico to the Union.

Previous referendums have been held on the island to decide on the political status of Puerto Rico, most recently in 1998.

Background

In June 2011, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization asked the United States to expedite the process for political status self-determination in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico, unlike several other U.S. territories such as Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, is not on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. However, as it is not a state, its citizens do not have the right to full representation in the U.S. Congress. Furthermore, although anyone born in Puerto Rico is a U.S. citizen, U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico may not vote in presidential elections. On December 28, 2011, Governor Luis Fortuño authorized the referendum for November 6, 2012.

Since its announcement, the status referendum was scrutinized by members of all political parties, including the New Progressive Party (PNP) that proposed it. Former Governor of Puerto Rico Pedro Rosselló (from the PNP) said that the choices in the ballot were "confusing" and might cause "an indefinition that, in the end, will bring more of the same: the continuous status quo." Another former Governor from the PNP, Carlos Romero Barceló, argued that "the content and language of the formulas will confuse the voter."

Members of the other parties also scrutinized the referendum. Former Governor of Puerto Rico Rafael Hernández Colón from the PPD argued that the project "doesn't follow the recommendations of the White House report on Puerto Rico neither on its content, nor its date." He also criticized the definition used for the Estado Libre Asociado, which is the current status and the one his party defends. Hernández Colón recommended following the seventh recommendation on the White House report, which is to "work from the island to go to the White House with a project for Congress, to push them into establish real status options for the voters to choose from." Another member of the PPD, Senator Eduardo Bhatia said that the status referendum was "a trick" and assured that the results would not have any value in Washington because "it's an illegitimate and badly designed consult."

Other members of the minority parties agreed with the criticism. After a poll in a local newspaper presented contradicting results, Rogelio Figueroa, gubernatorial candidate and co-founder of the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party (PPR) argued that the poll was proof the status referendum would not solve the status issue. He also claimed that the project was just a way for the two main parties to "perpetuate themselves".

Question

The referendum posed two questions. Voters were asked first whether they wanted the current territorial status to continue. Regardless of how voters answered that question, they were then asked to express their preference among the three alternatives to the current status: statehood, complete independence, or nationhood in free association with the United States. The options for the second part of the question were:

• Statehood: "Puerto Rico should be admitted as a state of the United States of America so that all United States citizens residing in Puerto Rico may have rights, benefits, and responsibilities equal to those enjoyed by all other citizens of the states of the Union, and be entitled to full representation in Congress and to participate in the Presidential elections, and the United States Congress would be required to pass any necessary legislation to begin the transition into Statehood."
• Independence: "Puerto Rico should become a sovereign nation, fully independent from the United States and the United States Congress would be required to pass any necessary legislation to begin the transition into independent nation of Puerto Rico."
• Sovereign Free Associated State: "Puerto Rico should adopt a status outside of the Territory Clause of the Constitution of the United States that recognizes the sovereignty of the People of Puerto Rico. The Sovereign Free Associated State would be based on a free and voluntary political association, the specific terms of which shall be agreed upon between the United States and Puerto Rico as sovereign nations. Such agreement would provide the scope of the jurisdictional powers that the People of Puerto Rico agree to confer to the United States and retain all other jurisdictional powers and authorities."

Critics of ballot

Critics indicate that voters who favor a developed version of the current status of Puerto Rico (a commonwealth which is part of the United States with internal self-government) had no place to vote on the ballot. Leaders instructed such voters to leave the second portion of the ballot blank, or to invalidate the ballot. .

CNN reported "Luis Agrait, a history professor at the University of Puerto Rico. Secondly, a large number of ballots -- one-third of all votes cast -- were left blank on the question of preferred alternative status. If you assume those blank votes are anti-statehood votes, the true result for the statehood option would be less than 50%, Agrait argues."

Results

With 2,402,942 registered to vote and 1586 of 1643 polling stations reporting, 2,356,286 registered voters have been accounted for. Of those, 1,835,933 voted, giving 77.92% voter participation with 96.53% of polling stations reporting. Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi and outgoing Governor Luis Fortuño have stated that they will present the results to the Obama administration and leaders of the United States Congress. President Obama has said that he will support the will of Puerto Ricans if there is a clear majority.

First part Do you agree that Puerto Rico should continue to have its present form of territorial status? Choice Votes Percentage of valid Percentage of total No 937,955 54.00% 51.71% Yes 798,938 46.00% 44.04% Valid votes 1,736,893 100% 95.75% Blank votes 64,357   3.55% Invalid votes 12,781   0.71% Total votes 1,814,031   100.00% Source:

Second part Regardless of your selection in the first question, please mark which of the following non-territorial options would you prefer. Choice Votes Percentage of valid Percentage of total Statehood 805,155 61.13% 44.61% Sovereign Free Associated State 438,896 33.32% 24.32% Independence 72,978 5.54% 4.04% Valid votes 1,317,029 100% 72.98% Blank votes 470,032   26.04% Invalid votes 17,673   0.98% Total votes 1,804,734   100% Source:

See also

• Puerto Rico statehood movement