Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2007
Abstract
José R. Coleman Tió proposes that Congress grant Puerto Rico equal representation in the House of Representatives through simple legislation. Although Puerto Rico has been subject to U.S. sovereignty since 1898 and Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917, they cannot vote in federal elections — not for Congressmen, not for Senators, not for the President of the United States. This is because Puerto Rico is not a state: the Constitution provides that “[t]he House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen ... by the People of the several States.” But Coleman does not see this constitutional provision as an obstacle: pointing to H.R. 5388, a bill that would provide equal representation in the House for the District of Columbia, Coleman contends that the arguments in favor of such treatment for the District would be even stronger for Puerto Rico.
Disciplines
Constitutional Law | Law
Recommended Citation
Christina D. Ponsa-Kraus,
Two Puerto Rican Senators Stay Home,
116
Yale L. J. F.
10
(2007).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/4477