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Legal Commentary

: Balkinization

More on Puerto Rico's contribution to the Iraqi War and on participation in the national electoral process

By Jack M. Balkin

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I note for the record first that the International Herald Tribune lists "only" 33 deaths "from" Puerto Rico , which be accounted for by differentiating enlistees directly from the island, as against ethnic Puerto Ricans from New York or New Jersey, for example. Secondly, an interesting story in last year's Washington Post, on resistance to military recruiting in Puerto Rican schools, notes that In the 2003-06 period, 4,947 Puerto Rican men and women enlisted in the Army or Reserves, or approximately 123 people per 100,000 residents, according to Pentagon data. That is below the average contribution of U.S. states, and far below the numbers in states such as Alabama, Kansas, Montana, and Oklahoma, each of which enlists more than 200 men and women per 100,000, according to Army data."

I am curious whether those readers who believe it is just fine for Puerto Rico to be shut out of participation in our national political system (perhaps because, after all, a majority of Puerto Ricans have not yet indicated a preference for statehood and the considerably higher tax burden that would accompany statehood) are critical as of Senators Obama and Clinton for not having the integrity to denounce the award of 53 delegates to the Democratic convention (and Senator McCain for not denouncing the presence of 23 Puerto Rican delegates at the Republican convention)? Or is there a plausible theory--perhaps based on the notion that political parties are merely "private associations"--that justifies giving Puerto Rico these delegates but no participation at all in the final election?

I assume that any arguments about the participation rights of American citizens living in Puerto Rico, would also extend to Guam, with its nine delegates, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands, also with nine delegates. There's also the interesting matter of the eleven delegates representing "Americans abroad," who may or may not have retained residency in American states and thus be entitled to cast absentee ballots. On the Republican side, American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Marianas each gets nine delegates. (I can find no evidence that the Democratic Party will be seating any delegates from the Northern Marianas. What does the Republican Party know that the Democratic Party does not? It is not, for example, that Northern Marianans are not US citizens, because they are. )

Full post as published by Balkinization on April 28, 2008 (boomark / email).