Puerto Rico 2020 ballot measures
| 2020 Puerto Rico ballot measures |
|---|
| 2020 U.S. state ballot measures | |
|---|---|
2021 »
« 2019
| |
 | |
| Overview | |
| Scorecard | |
| Tuesday Count | |
| Deadlines | |
| Requirements | |
| Lawsuits | |
| Readability | |
| Voter guides | |
| Election results | |
| Year-end analysis | |
| Campaigns | |
| Polls | |
| Media editorials | |
| Filed initiatives | |
| Finances | |
| Contributions | |
| Signature costs | |
| Ballot Measure Monthly | |
| Signature requirements | |
Have you subscribed yet?
Join the hundreds of thousands of readers trusting Ballotpedia to keep them up to date with the latest political news. Sign up for the Daily Brew.
| |
In 2020, one territorial ballot measure was certified to appear on the ballot in Puerto Rico on November 3.
On the ballot
- See also: 2020 ballot measures
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LRSS | Statehood Referendum | Statehood | Asks voters about seeking statehood |  |
Political status referendums
At the election on November 3, 2020, Puerto Rico voted on a political status referendum, which asked voters, "Should Puerto Rico be immediately admitted into the Union as a state?"
Puerto Rico voted on ballot measures addressing statehood in 1967, 1993, 1998, 2012, and 2017. The results in each referendum election were as follows:
| Referendums of Puerto Rico's political status | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Commonwealth | Statehood | Free association | Independence | None of the above |
| 1967 | 60.41% | 38.98% | *** | 0.60% | *** |
| 1993 | 48.89% | 46.64% | *** | 4.47% | *** |
| 1998 | 0.06% | 46.63% | 0.29% | 2.55% | 50.46% |
| 2012[1] | *** | 61.16% | 33.34% | 5.49% | *** |
| 2017[2] | 1.32% | 97.18% | *** | ||
Getting measures on the ballot
Citizens
In Puerto Rico, citizens do not have the power to initiate statewide initiatives or referendums. As of 2020, voters of Puerto Rico had never voted on a ballot measure to authorize a statewide initiative and referendum process.
Legislature
The Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly can refer statewide ballot measures, in the form of constitutional amendments or territorial statutes, to the ballot.
The Puerto Rico Constitution requires a two-thirds in each legislative chamber during one legislative session to refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 34 votes in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives and 20 votes in the Puerto Rico Senate. The Puerto Rico Constitution limits the number of constitutional amendments on the ballot at one election to three. Amendments also need to be placed on a special election ballot, unless three-fourths of the legislators in each chamber vote to place the amendment on a general election ballot.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: These results are from the second question of a two-question referendum. About one quarter of voters who voted on the first question cast blank ballots on the second question.
- ↑ The Popular Democratic Party boycotted the referendum election, which featured voter turnout of 22.93 percent.
- ↑ The ballot question treated free association and independence as the same option. If the option had prevailed with a majority of the vote, a second question would have asked voters to decide between the two.
