A new survey conducted in Puerto Rico found that statehood continues to be the most popular status option.
The Atlas survey presented the same three status options as the Puerto Rico Status Act, a piece of legislation that calls for one more referendum in Puerto Rico. The options voters will choose from and the percentage of votes they received in the survey:
- Statehood: 47.2%
- Independence: 11.4%
- Free association: 23.3%
18.1% were undecided. According to Noticel, that 18.1% included those who complained that “commonwealth” was not included as an option. “Commonwealth” will not be included on the eventual vote, because it is not a viable political status. The current status of Puerto Rico is territory status: Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. “Commonwealth” is a word in the name of Puerto Rico, as it is a word in the name of several states. It has no legal or practical meaning. We do not know how many of the 18.1% were simply undecided and how many continue to hold out hope for the unconstitutional idea of “enhanced commonwealth,” but there is no practical difference. We can therefore count that group as undecided.
Who supports statehood?
Statehood was most popular among people from 18-60 age group. Among people over 60, statehood still received 43.1% of the votes.
50.3% of women supported statehood, compared with 43.8% of men.
Independence was most popular with voters ages 18-44, but it still received just 17.2% of the vote in that group.
93.9% of those who said they voted for Pierluisi in the 2020 election voted for statehood. 58.2% of respondents who said they voted for Charlie Delgado in 2020 chose Free Association. Charlie Delgado was the losing candidate from the “commonwealth” party. Free association is sometimes presented as a new version of the “enhanced commonwealth” myth, so we would expect that outcome.
We hope that supporters of free association will take a serious look at the relationships of free association the United States currently has with three independent nations in the Pacific. Those relationships are nothing like the deal being promised by supporters of free association for Puerto Rico.
No surprises
The Atlas survey offers no real surprises. Statehood is an continues to be the most popular status option. Independentistas should be excited to see themselves at 11.4% in this poll, since that is more than twice the result they’ve ever achieved in a status vote.
The numbers clearly give the lie to the claim we so commonly hear, that Puerto Rico is evenly divided among the possible status options. We look forward to seeing Puerto Rico’s political status settled once and for all. The outcome is clear. It is a question of when we will become a state, not whether.
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