Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian at President-elect Donald Trump’s closing rally in Madison Square Garden on Oct 7, made a comment that had a lasting impact on many Americans. According to BBC, he said “I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
Many Americans, including two Republicans from Florida, rightfully called him out for this demeaning and racist joke. However, this brought up the point of why Puerto Rico and other US territories always seem to be the subject of insensitive jokes. Normally people can show their anger for these jokes through the presidential election, but not in US territories. In the United States, the right to vote is a fundamental principle of democracy, yet not all citizens enjoy this privilege equally. Citizens of US territories, like Puerto Rico, face significant restrictions preventing them from participating in the federal electoral process.
Many Paly students can already vote, and as California residents, we need to be more conscious that we are able to vote without major restrictions and participate in federal elections.
United States territories include 17 different islands, with around five that are inhabited, including Puerto Rico. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the territories have a combined population of around 3.6 million people. The majority of the people living on the territories are US citizens, writes the Pew Research Center.
Regardless of your political affiliation, all US citizens should have the right to vote in elections, especially ones that influence the entire country, like presidential races. Puerto Ricans and other people living in US territories have been denied voting rights for too long.
The citizens who reside in US territories pay mostly the same federal taxes, can go anywhere in the US without a visa, and vote in presidential primaries, according to the Puerto Rico Report and PR51st. There is one big difference, which is, according to Frost Law, most income made in Puerto Rico and other territories is exempted from federal income taxes. This is just one reason used to justify the unequal treatment of US territories, like Puerto Rico.
This inequality was seen after Hurricane Maria, when, according to the Puerto Rico Report, Puerto Rico didn’t receive the same amount of resources and help, like funding and personnel, as other US states. The Puerto Rico Report adds the lack of basic necessities led to thousands of preventable deaths. Once again people who were personally affected by this horrible disaster couldn’t have a say in who was president of the government that was responsible.
US citizens deserve to have a voice in our government through presidential elections. US citizens living in US territories pass all the requirements to vote but are excluded simply because they live in territories, not states. Allowing citizens of U.S. territories to vote in the federal elections allows them to have a voice and no longer gives them the short end of the stick when it comes to politics. America’s very core values lie in democracy and freedom for all and, thus, citizens of US Territories should be included in this belief. If we fail to uphold the values that glue our nation together, then we fail our duty to our country.