On November 5, 2024, Puerto Rico held a non-binding referendum alongside the 2024 Puerto Rican general election and the 2024 United States elections. This was the seventh referendum held on the long-standing, ongoing debate about the political status of Puerto Rico, with the previous one having taken place in 2020.
Puerto Rican voters were presented with three choices regarding the political status of Puerto Rico: statehood, independence, and free association. This was the first time that maintaining the island's current status as a United States territory was not an option. This decision was cited by the Popular Democratic Party, the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana, and the Puerto Rican Independence Party to denounce the referendum and call for either a boycott or for voters to spoil their ballots. However, Puerto Rico's governing New Progressive Party praised the island's vote for statehood, in which over half of the electorate cast a vote.
The option for statehood achieved a majority of the vote with 620,782 votes, followed by free association with 313,259 votes, and independence with 125,171 votes. Over 16% of ballots were either blank or invalid. The results for the options of free association and independence were initially erroneously interchanged by Dominion Voting Systems machines.
Background.
In the 2020 Puerto Rican status referendum the option to pursue statehood won the referendum 52.52%–47.48%.
In 2022, the United States House of Representatives passed the Puerto Rico Status Act. It did not pass the United States Senate.
In August 2024, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court dismissed the July 2024 petition by the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) asking the State Election Commission (CEE) to halt the status referendum.
In September 2024, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction, as well as a declaratory judgment, allowing potential voters to register, through October 6. On October 1, the High Court of Puerto Rico dismissed the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The Court declines to intervene in Puerto Rico's electoral processes or grant the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunction. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has failed to demonstrate that the September 21 voter registration deadline constitutes an unconstitutional disenfranchisement, or a manifest injustice, that justifies the intrusion of the United States federal government, into the election administration of the State of Puerto Rico.
On November 21, 2024, former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, José Aponte, asked the State Electoral Commission (CEE), to count all the ballots of the plebiscite on the status, that were not counted on the day of the general election, including the ones voted by mail. The Popular Democratic Party (PPD) warns of going to court if the State Electoral Commission (CEE) decides to recount the plebiscite vote on the status of Puerto Rico.
In December 2024, the representative by accumulation, José Pérez Cordero, goes to the United States Congress to promote the results of the consultation on the status, where the quality of state prevailed with a majority of 57 percent of the votes.
The results for the options of free association and independence were initially erroneously interchanged by Dominion Voting Systems machines. On December 27, 2024, the Puerto Rico Department of Justice received a complaint regarding allegations of irregularities in the results of the plebiscite, the Department of Justice is seizing the complaint, to determine the opening of an investigation into the irregularities, during the plebiscite. 
Campaign.
New Progressive Party (PNP) gubernatorial candidate Jenniffer González-Colón called a blank vote a "wasted vote" emphasizing the importance of the vote. The pro-statehood Republican Party of Puerto Rico supports the referendum.
The Popular Democratic Party called for a blank vote for not including Commonwealth or the current system. Gubernatorial candidate of Proyecto Dignidad Javier Jiménez announced that he will not vote but granted their members free vote. Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana called to "damage" their referendum and presidential ballots and their resident commissioner candidate Ana Irma Rivera Lassén announced that she will write "Get out LUMA" on both. The Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) denounced the referendum as "unconstitutional and illegal" and "a desperate act by the PNP leadership".
Question.
The referendum featured three choices in the following order: independence with free association; statehood; and independence. It was the first time the island's current status as a U.S. territory was not an option. Note that free association was an option on some older referendums also, and the structure of voting options has varied over time.
Results.
According to the Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections (CEE), 58.6% voted for statehood, 29.6% for free association, and 11.8% for independence. The commission certified these results as the final and official of the plebiscite on January 17, 2025.
The results for the options of free association and independence were initially erroneously interchanged by Dominion Voting Systems machines.
References.
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