Puerto Rican Statehood Opponents Look to Kill Plebiscite Ballot Initiative

As the ever-important November 5^th presidential election nears, voters in Puerto Rico will not only be able to cast a symbolic vote for President of the United States, but will have the opportunity to vote in favor of, or against, statehood for the island. While a growing number of both Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. support statehood for Puerto Rico, there is opposition to the initiative, opposition that appears to be delving into questionable electioneering to kill the statehood narrative and momentum.

Momentum for statehood has been growing over the past several election cycles, but opposition leaders like Puerto Rican celebrity Bad Bunny could be reading the writing on the political wall, and are trying in earnest to defeat the initiative even as their efforts seem futile considering the influx of support for statehood.

An important point to make is that while the warring political parties struggle to split the overall popular vote for their individual causes and platforms, the statehood issue appears to be receiving favorable acceptance across all of Puerto Rico’s political lines.

During the 2020 general election Rep. Jennifer Gonzalez received the most votes than any other candidate for public office, but the statehood issue, which won the status ballot initiative with over 52% support, received 130,000 more votes than Rep. Gonzalez.

 The aforementioned ‘questionable electioneering’ is said to be perpetrated by the likes of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others who want the Puerto Rican government to extend the recently expired voter registration period.

These groups are trying to make the case that because the voter registration period is not being extended, this should be considered election fraud.

Another effort by the statehood opposition lobby is to try to convince voters to leave both the presidential and statehood ballot entries blank.

Jesús Manuel Ortiz, who is running for governor as the PPD candidate, is one of those pushing for voters to ignore the ballot initiative.

The Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) is also asking voters to not vote for the plebiscite ballot initiative

"In light of this decision, we are urging our party members to leave the last two ballots blank," said Roberto Ivan Aponte,  the PIP electoral commissioner.

In addition, The Popular Democratic Party (PPD) on the island is also calling for voters to skip the statehood ballot.

Both the PPD and PIP are considered by conservatives and mainstream Republicans as being socialist-minded, and their efforts to try to keep voters from voting for any ballot initiative are nothing more than undemocratic.

Members of the U.S. Congress, like Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R), have recently told The Floridian that if Puerto Ricans on the island vote for statehood, he and other lawmakers will support their vote.

The Puerto Rico Status Act also has robust support in the U.S. House of Representatives, totaling 99 cosponsors (14 Republicans and 85 Democrats) with West Virginia Republican and staunch conservative Alexander Mooney signing onto the bill on October 1^st.