News & Politics - Lawyer seeks presidential vote for Puerto Rico

**ROCKSTAR** · 05-04-2005, 09:08 PM

Puerto Rican islanders should have voting rights, attorney argues

Quote:

BOSTON - (KRT) - At an unusual hearing before all seven judges of a federal appeals court, Puerto Rican attorney Gregorio Igartua de la Rosa Wednesday pleaded that all islanders - who are U.S. citizens - should have the right to vote in U.S. presidential elections.

"The denial of voting rights includes a denial to citizens who have made the ultimate sacrifice ... who have risked their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq," an emotional Igartua told the judges. "It's a serious matter. ... It's a situation of master and servant."

Gregory Katsas, deputy assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice, responded by urging the judges to adhere to previous rulings from the same court, which denied Puerto Ricans the right to vote until the U.S. territory becomes a state, or the U.S. Constitution is amended to allow it.

Igartua's passionate request before the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was part of a legal battle that strikes at the heart of a debate that for decades has bitterly divided the island into three camps: those who want Puerto Rico to become the 51st U.S. state, those who support the island's current commonwealth status, and a tiny but vocal minority that prefers independence.

Citing constitutional rights and international accords that the United States has signed, Igartua argued that Puerto Rico's political status is a separate issue from its people's right to vote. He said the inability to participate in national elections is a violation of rights afforded to all other U.S. citizens, including residents of the District of Columbia, also without statehood. In 1961, the U.S. Constitution was amended to give residents of Washington, D.C., the right to vote.

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During the hourlong hearing, a touchy exchange was triggered when Judge Juan Torruella, who was born in San Juan, questioned Katsas about a phrase in his written argument where he stated that Puerto Ricans have participated in "their country."

"What country are you referring to?" Torruella asked.

"The United States," Katsas responded.

"How do they participate in their country?"

"They elect a member to Congress," Katsas said.

"Does he get to vote on legislation?" Torruella asked?

"No sir, he does not."

Richard Fallon, a Harvard Law School professor, told judges that by denying island residents the right to vote, the U.S. government was violating customary international laws.

Look I'm Puerto Rican, I live in Puerto Rico and I'm in college getting a degree in Political Science. This subject comes up every other week and my positions change as it happens.

I believe the Constitution should be upheld at any cost unless a case such as Brown v. Board of Ed. has the undeniable facts to demand change. Now, Boston will not be on Igartua's side because this subject has been brought before and it never survives. The Supreme Court already in the Balzac case decided PR is not a part of the U.S., it belongs to the U.S which is different. How terrible.

Yet I think it's horrible how our troops die without the right to decide who will send them to war. It's 2005 and while I respect all Constitutions something must be solved here. Even if it means that Congress must finally act on the subject.

If they do not want Puerto Rico, then cut it off, give it its independence. I'm afraid of independence but I'm even more afraid of being a part of a system that does not care for me.

sick little jag · 05-04-2005, 11:16 PM

I tend to agree. I think they either need to give Puerto Rico its independence or allow its citizens to have the right to vote in national elections. Don't they vote in primaries, but then once they've put in their votes for nominations, they can't vote for President? It's weird.

Puerto Rico has been a territory of the U.S. for quite some time....I think it should become a state. Or the same rules should apply to it as the Disctric of Columbia, like it was mentioned.


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