Puerto Rican status referendum, 2017
| Puerto Rican status referendum, 2017 | |
|---|---|
| Location | Puerto Rico |
| Date | June 11, 2017 |
| Voting system | simple majority |
| Results | |
A referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico will be held in Puerto Rico on June 11, 2017. Previous referendums have been held on the island to decide on its political status, but this will be the first to have no option to maintain the status quo as a Commonwealth. Puerto Rico has been an unincorporated territory of the United States since the Spanish–American War in 1898.
Four plebiscites about the possibility of changing Puerto Rico's status have been held, the most recent in 2012. The fifth will be held in June 2017.
Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States in 1898 as part of the Treaty of Paris after the end of the Spanish–American War. Since then, the island has been an unincorporated territory of the United States. Because of this territorial status, the island is neither a state of the United States nor a sovereign one. Although Puerto Ricans were granted United States citizenship with the 1917 Jones–Shafroth Act, since Puerto Rico is not a U.S. state American citizens residing on the island cannot vote for the President of the United States (their head of government) nor for a legislator in Congress with voting powers even though the federal government of the United States has jurisdiction on the island. In addition, due to its political status, the United States has full authority over Puerto Rico's foreign policy.
Legislation approving the referendum was passed in the Senate of Puerto Rico on January 26, 2017 by a senate controlled by the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (PNP In Spanish) which advocates for Puerto Rico to become a state of the United States. The measure was then passed with amendments by the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico on January 31 by a house which is also controlled by the PNP. The amendments then passed in the Senate and the bill was signed into law by Governor Ricardo Rosselló (of the PNP) on February 3, 2017.
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