{"id":28436,"date":"2017-06-12T05:45:12","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T09:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=28436"},"modified":"2017-06-11T22:49:43","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T02:49:43","slug":"puerto-rico-votes-to-become-the-51st-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/06\/puerto-rico-votes-to-become-the-51st-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Puerto Rico votes to become the 51st state"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"8759149055_1d0e7849c6_z\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Puerto Rico held a referendum on whether the U.S. Territory should apply for statehood. \u00a0Voters overwhelmingly voted \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

A half million voted for statehood, with 7,600 wanting independence and 6,700 wanting to stay a territory. \u00a0Three earlier referendums failed to reach any kind of majority, but that was before the severe economic crisis that Puerto Rico is struggling with today.<\/p>\n

The referendum isn\u2019t enough to make Puerto Rico a state. \u00a0Congress has to make that decision.<\/p>\n

Prediction: \u00a0The next time the Democrats have a majority in Congress, they will make Puerto Rico the 51st state, being glad to have another state that will vote Democratic, and a Spanish-speaking one at that.<\/p>\n

\n

But, on the merits, do you think we should add Puerto Rico\u2019s star to the flag? \u00a0Aren\u2019t\u00a0\u201cterritories\u201d remnants of a colonial past that we really shouldn\u2019t\u2019 have anymore?<\/p>\n

From Danica Coto,\u00a0Puerto Rican voters back statehood in questioned referendum \u2013 Associated Press, The Washington Post<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

Puerto Rico\u2019s governor announced that the U.S. territory overwhelmingly chose statehood on Sunday in a nonbinding referendum held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the U.S. mainland.<\/p>\n

Nearly half a million votes were cast for statehood, about 7,600 for free association\/independence and nearly 6,700 for the current territorial status, according to preliminary results. Voter turnout was just 23 percent, leading opponents to question the validity of a vote that several political parties had urged their supporters to boycott.<\/p>\n

And the U.S. Congress has final say in any changes to Puerto Rico\u2019s political status.<\/p>\n

But that didn\u2019t stop Gov. Pedro Rossello from vowing to push ahead with his administration\u2019s quest to make the island the 51st U.S. state and declaring that \u201cPuerto Rico voted for statehood.\u201d He said he would create a commission to ensure that Congress validate the referendum\u2019s results.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[Keep reading. . .]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Photograph by\u00a0Arturo de La Barrera<\/a>, Banderas de Puerto Rico y USA Ondeando, Flickr,\u00a0Creative Commons License<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Puerto Rico held a referendum on whether the U.S. Territory should apply for statehood. \u00a0Voters overwhelmingly voted \u201cyes.\u201d A half million voted for statehood, with 7,600 wanting independence and 6,700 wanting to stay a territory. \u00a0Three earlier referendums failed to reach any kind of majority, but that was before the severe economic crisis that Puerto […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":28438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,19],"tags":[1826,5514],"class_list":["post-28436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america","category-government","tag-puerto-rico","tag-statehood-for-puerto-rico"],"yoast_head":"\nPuerto Rico votes to become the 51st state<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Puerto Rico held a referendum on whether or not to pursue statehood, and "yes" won overwhelmingly. 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