Rashid Marcano Rivera contributes to The Conversation on Puerto Rico's recent request for statehood to become the 51st state of the United States.
Puerto Ricans requested statehood on Nov. 3, 2020, with 52.3% of voters asking to change the island’s status from unincorporated territory to U.S. state.
This is the sixth time statehood has been on the ballot since Puerto Rico ratified its Constitution in 1952. Voters rejected the status change in 1967, 1993 and 1998.
The 2012 election results were unclear because some voters did not answer both parts of a two-part statehood question. In 2017statehood won decisively, albeit with very low turnout of around 23%.
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The College of Arts