Why does Puerto Rico get to vote for the U.S. President?

sdf wrote:

What am I missing? It doesn't seem fair that their votes count.

What you are missing is the fact that PR does NOT get to vote in the presidential election. Primary is one thing; November election is another. This is one of the fundamental differences between commonwealth and state status.

Awesome, thanks!

The technical answer is that Puerto Rico is not a state so Puerto Rico doesn't get votes in the Electoral College. Puerto Rico doesn't hold a vote for president on election day because it doesn't get to choose electors for the Electoral College. However, Puerto Ricans are American citizens so they can vote for president if they are residents of one of the states.

The primaries are the way the political parties pick a candidate so if they want to hold a primary in a territory or commonwealth, it's up to them.

sdf wrote:

What am I missing? It doesn't seem fair that their votes count.

It doesn't seem fair to me that US citizens can be prevented from voting in presidential elections because of where they live.

Jeff Wigand wrote:

It doesn't seem fair to me that US citizens can be prevented from voting in presidential elections because of where they live.

I believe that the mentally challenged should be prevented from voting. It is not that I dislike the mentally challenged, but I simply don't think that they could possibly understand the issues sufficiently to place a valid vote. For this reason, I believe that people from New Jersey and the southern states should not be allowed to vote because of where they live.

More stuff wrote:

The technical answer is that Puerto Rico is not a state so Puerto Rico doesn't get votes in the Electoral College. Puerto Rico doesn't hold a vote for president on election day because it doesn't get to choose electors for the Electoral College. However, Puerto Ricans are American citizens so they can vote for president if they are residents of one of the states.

The primaries are the way the political parties pick a candidate so if they want to hold a primary in a territory or commonwealth, it's up to them.

If they are American citizens, how can they compete in the Olympics separate from the United States?

I agree. If the mentally challenged were prevented from voting, George W Bush would never have been president, we would never have invaded Iraq, and the US economy would not have been fu\cked up.

Jeff Wigand wrote:It doesn't seem fair to me that US citizens can be prevented from voting in presidential elections because of where they live.

The president is elected by the Electoral College which gives each state 1 vote for each member of congress and each senator:

"Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector."

The 23rd amendment also lets the District of Columbia choose electors.

It's not really that US citizens are prevented from voting in a presidential election because of where they live - it's that the States (+ D.C.) really pick the president (through the Electoral College) - not the total popular vote of all American citizens.

For Puerto Rico to vote in the national election you would either have to give Puerto Rico votes in the Electoral College like the 23rd amendment did for D.C. or you would have to get rid of the Electoral College and go to direct popular election.

Puerto Rico will be voting this fall on whether to become a state or not, and it's expected to pass. If so, they'll be voting for the pres in 2016.

johnnyb1610 wrote:

If they are American citizens, how can they compete in the Olympics separate from the United States?

Logic Fail.

Inspired wrote:

Puerto Rico will be voting this fall on whether to become a state or not, and it's expected to pass. If so, they'll be voting for the pres in 2016.

It is a nonbinding referendum. It will have no effect on Puerto Rico's statehood status beyond possibly pressuring congress to take up some kind of legislation.

More Hairsplitting wrote: you would have to get rid of the Electoral College and go to direct popular election.

Which will never happen because the electoral college is designed to let small population states punch above their weight and they would never give up that influence. It also means states closely divided between Demos and Repubs get alot of extra attention and they would never want to get rid of the electoral college.

So realistically PR would have to become a state to vote in presidential elections altho maybe there could be an amendment like for DC. Actually PR has a pretty sweet deal right now because you don't pay individual federal income tax in PR while getting most of the benefits of statehood.

agree to some extent wrote:

I believe that the mentally challenged should be prevented from voting. It is not that I dislike the mentally challenged, but I simply don't think that they could possibly understand the issues sufficiently to place a valid vote. For this reason, I believe that people from New Jersey and the southern states should not be allowed to vote because of where they live.

New Jersey is one of the smartest states in the country, so go fvck yourself.

Jersey Bias wrote:

New Jersey is one of the smartest states in the country, so go fvck yourself.

Yes, upon exiting the Holland Tunnel, I regularly think to myself "the people living in these graffiti covered shacks must all be quite brilliant."

Jeff Wigand wrote:

I believe that the mentally challenged should be prevented from voting.

So you would deprive anyone who thinks Obama is a Muslim of the right to vote?

Oh you're right. Sorry, I always forget that the entire state, comprising some 8.8 million people, is represented by the entrance of the Holland Tunnel.

It's kind of like how everyone in New York is a hot dog stand operator.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Inspired wrote:

Puerto Rico will be voting this fall on whether to become a state or not, and it's expected to pass. If so, they'll be voting for the pres in 2016.

It is a nonbinding referendum. It will have no effect on Puerto Rico's statehood status beyond possibly pressuring congress to take up some kind of legislation.

It'll be the tipping point. The only thing standing in the way of statehood in the past were the Puerto Ricans. They've had all the benefits of the big government entitlements, without having to deal with those pesky taxes.

Jersey Bias wrote:

Oh you're right. Sorry, I always forget that the entire state, comprising some 8.8 million people, is represented by the entrance of the Holland Tunnel.

It's kind of like how everyone in New York is a hot dog stand operator.

But most of them commute from New Jersey.

Jersey Bias wrote:

Oh you're right. Sorry, I always forget that the entire state, comprising some 8.8 million people, is represented by the entrance of the Holland Tunnel.

It's not just the entrance of the Tunnel. The 30 or 40 miles after you get out of the Tunnel is like a third world country.