Puerto Rico held a referendum Sunday on whether to remain a U.S. commonwealth, be independent – or become the 51st U.S. state. Those Puerto Ricans who voted gave statehood a big victory, but it’s not as big a win as it first looks, largely because turnout was far lower than anticipated.
More than 97 percent of Puerto Ricans who cast ballots in the non-binding plebiscite chose statehood. Now they take the issue to the U.S. Congress, which has the final say on whether U.S. territories like Puerto Rico become states.
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló supports statehood as a way to solve the island’s economic disaster. That crisis is driving Puerto Ricans in record numbers to come live in Florida. After the vote, Rosselló said Washington can “no longer ignore” Puerto Rico’s statehood preference.
Still the result is hardly as convincing as Rosselló claims. Turnout was historically low – just 23 percent of the island’s 2.3 million registered voters. That's largely because supporters of keeping Puerto Rico a commonwealth and those who back independence boycotted the vote. But even statehood supporters came out in lower than expected numbers.
That will make it harder for Rosselló to convince Congress that statehood has a mandate on the island. Even if it did, most analysts say statehood already faced an uphill battle in Washington, where President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress don't appear all that enthusiastic about adding a 51st star to the U.S. flag.
