Voting Rights and Puerto Rico

Members of the U.S. armed services living in Puerto Rico cannot vote for their commander in chief. If they are stationed abroad, their fellow servicemen and women from states can vote in presidential elections by absentee ballot — but not the people living in Puerto Rico. A presidential candidate from Puerto Rico could not vote for him or herself. Act 60 beneficiaries who move to Puerto Rico for the tax breaks have to give up their rights to vote in presidential elections. Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens by birthright since 1917 — how can they have such limited voting rights today?

The U.S. has a history of limited voting rights

While the majority of Americans accept the idea that the right to vote is sacred, the nation has a history of limiting voting rights for groups of individuals.

• In 1776, just 6% of Americans — landowners — were permitted to vote. The property requirement was not eliminated until 1856, when free white men were allowed to vote in all states.
• In 1870, it became illegal to stop citizens from voting on the basis of race. However, Native Americans and people of Chinese ancestry were soon stripped of their citizenship and therefore of their rights to vote. Restrictions on Native Americans finally ended in 1947 and those on Asians were cleared up in 1952.
• In 1917, Puerto Ricans became citizens. Residents of Puerto Rico still cannot vote in presidential elections.
• American women living in the States got the vote in 1920, but women living in Puerto Rico continued to work for suffrage until 1935. Women living in Puerto Rico still cannot vote in presidential elections.
• In 2000, a court decision reaffirmed the fact that residents of U.S. territories cannot vote in presidential elections.
• In 2020, a wave of laws creating voter restrictions passed in various states around the nation. The Carnegie Corporation lists intentional limitations of voting rights that citizens still face.

And Puerto Rico?

More than three million U.S. citizens who live in Puerto Rico are unable to vote in presidential elections. “Voting rights protect every other right,” a common slogan says. More than three million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico are disenfranchised.

But the reason for this is simple: it’s Puerto Rico’s territory status. In presidential elections, citizens vote for their choice, and then their states choose representatives who vote on behalf of the states. Since Puerto Rico is not a state, voting in presidential elections is impossible.