CNN Question: Equal Rights for Disenfranchised Americans

[solanima2007]

why would you want to vote anyway?. nothing will change no matter how u vote

its a hoax

[pennymuckleroy]

@solanima2007 PLEASE don't feel that way. I really understand your frustration. There are millions of Americans who are frustrated. I am a firm believer that whether the politician is Democrat or Republican they need to be VOTED out of office. We have to clean up the mess the 536 people who make the rules in this country have made. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. We have to while we still have the chance.

[SchismDesign]

Puerto Ricans need to have the opportunity to once again vote for either Statehood or Independence (there should be no in between those two options). If the people of Puerto Rico decide one or the other, then Congress in the US must accept and abide by what the majority of the people have voted on. Now there is another side to this coin. There must be an equitable exchange of social, political and economical responsibilities to all sides concerned and intertwined in this relationship.

[SchismDesign]

The only solution to this problem does not only lie in the hands of the Puerto Rican people, but also in Congress. It is almost impossible when you have one side voting for one thing and the other doing completely the opposite to what has been voted on.

[REALITYCHURCH]

I BELIEVE IT IS IMMORAL FOR THE 5 U.S.TERRITORIES NOT TO HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE. It would be the only fair thing to do. Or an Independence vote. Which would be a loss for the U.S.. PLEASE HELP PUSH FOR WHATS RIGHT AND GIVE OUR WONDERFUL DIVERSE 5 U.S.TERRITORIES THE RIGHT TO VOTE. It is healthy FOR ALL to have a stake in the/their/OUR future! Hello from San Diego California. "GIV'EM THE VOTE!!!"

[elnegrobembon]

i am also a Puerto Rican,but i think the issue of statehood is totally irrelevant. Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico,by law, are US citizens, and as such, our rights should be upheld. It is a US citizen's right to vote for the president, and that right is being violated..statehood or no statehood (just like Washington D.C. residents)

Our status as a colony shouldn't matter. If a US citizen can vote being outside of the United States, surely Puerto Ricans should be able to vote being on US land

[penn263]

I am a Puerto Rican American myself. The disenfranchisement of Puerto Ricans from the commonwealth stems from Puerto Rico's own unwillingness to become a state. If Puerto Ricans don't want their island to became a U.S. state, how then can they demand a right to vote? It makes no sense. What you should be advocating is statehood. If you're not for statehood then you have no right to demand a right to possess an electoral college.

[JoseEVelezSilva]

I am TOTALLY pro statehood. I think that the statehood political formula is the ONLY and most viable solution to the political future of Puerto Rico.

[JoseEVelezSilva]

But that is no excuse to maintain 4 million citizens under a status that is clearly colonial and UN-equal for over a century.

[JoseEVelezSilva]

If YOU were offered "all of the benefits and none of the responsibilities," wouldn't you at least consider it? Puerto Ricans have been sold that myth for over 50 years, and the U.S. government, for whatever reasons, has chosen to avoid dispelling it.

Moreover, we have to understand that any type of change (political, social or personal) comes with a baggage of uncertainty, fear and distrust, since its an unknown... Why rock the boat?

[JoseEVelezSilva]

Well, with all due respect, I do not think that calling Puerto Ricans "stupid welfare ricans" is appropriate or accurate, nor does it promote healthy, intelligent debate. Again, it is a common misconception - in the last referendum, most Puerto Ricans voted for "None of the Above."

[lompocus]

You do know that puerto ricans aren't allowed to vote because they voted themselves to remain a commonwealth, right?

Stupid welfare ricans.

[JoseEVelezSilva]

But, ultimately, it is a matter of dignity and human rights. The Nation that is a bastion of liberty for the world cannot afford to maintain 4 million of its citizens disenfranchised, separate and unequal.

[JoseEVelezSilva]

Yes, the political status of Puerto Rico should be decided by Puerto Ricans. But, under our present Constitutional regime, Congress is the one that can ultimately decide whether what Puerto Ricans want will be granted. Or not. Congress has all the power. So, Congress, under the direction of the President, must tell Puerto Rico INEQUIVOCALLY, what the U.S. government is willing to grant, so that Puerto Rican can make an informed decision.

[JoseEVelezSilva]

U.S. Constitutional experts unanimously agree that such powers are incompatible with the U.S. Constitution.

[JoseEVelezSilva]

However, what they propose is neither fish nor fowl, a "status" that would grant Puerto Ricans benefits that are NOT available to Americans residing in the States, such as negotiating treaties with foreign countries and picking and choosing which federal laws will or will not apply in Puerto Rico, while maintaining, and even increasing, present levels of federal funding and transfer payments to Puerto Rico and maintaining American citizenship.

[JoseEVelezSilva]

Why did "None of the Above" win, you might ask? Because Puerto Rican voters have been sold a pipe dream by a coalition of politicians and special interests who seek to protect the "status quo" at all costs. Virtually ALL COmmonwealth supporters agree that Commonwealth, as it now stands, is unsustainable.

[Y2ANJ]

To be honest I "sympathize" with Puerto Rico becoming a U.S. state (for my own reasons). But in the last referendum it was Puerto Ricans who voted to remain with its Commonwealth status. Hence I would feel it incorrect for the U.S. to just force statehood on Puerto Rico. The islands status is completely for Puerto Ricans to decide.

[JoseEVelezSilva]

That is a common misconception - in the last referendum, most Puerto Ricans voted for "None of the Above." Of the three actual alternatives posed - Independence, Statehood or Commonwealth - Statehood received the most votes.