In the same period, support for statehood grew only .1%. Looks like the majority preferences are for:
- No change;
- Commonwealth; and
- Statehood
In that order. Is there any more recent data on this available?
I’m not sure what happened in 98 but the overall trend worries me. Personally I wouldn’t have an issue with them becoming a state if they were self supporting and were more evenly balanced between conservatives and liberals. I would also want to see a move toward an english speaking population.
The fact that the new progressive party hides behind the republican label in the USA gives me pause.
“No change” got 0.1% in the 1998 plebiscite. Real popular option there.
In the 1993 plebiscite the pro-”Commonwealth” Popular Democratic Party wrote the definition of “Commonwealth” on the ballot, making it utterly devoid of any semblance to the current “Commonwealth status” or what would be permissible under the U.S. Constitution; in 1998 the definition of “Commonwealth” on the ballot was based on how the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Supreme Court had defined it, but the idiot lawmakers added a “None of the Above” column out of fear that the activist courts in PR would strike down the plebiscite for not giving people the option they wanted, and “None of the Above” received votes from all of the “Commonwealth” supporters as well as from statehood supporters who were upset at the pro-statehood Governor for one reason or another.
In both the 1993 and 1998 plebiscites, statehood got around 46% support despite a campaign from opponents of statehood promising a “Commonwealth status” that would irrevocably guarantee U.S. citizenship, federal subsidies and no federal income taxation. I’m sure that is voters in the 50 states were given a choice between (i) a status that (purportedly, but not in reality) guarantees them their current rights but would exempt them from federal income taxes and (ii) statehood, complete with federal income taxation, you would have quite a few states with less than 46% support for statehood.