Puerto Ricans cannot vote in general elections despite being U.S. citizens, but they can exert a powerful influence with relatives on the mainland. Phones across the island of 3.2 million people were ringing minutes after the speaker derided the U.S. territory Sunday night, and they still buzzed Monday.

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is competing with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Shortly after stand-up comic Tony Hinchcliffe said that, “I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny announced he was backing Harris.

After Sunday’s rally, a senior adviser for the Trump campain, Danielle Alvarez, said in a statement that Hinchcliffe’s joke did “not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

    • TRBoom@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      Because each state is given the power to elect a president, not the voters. Puerto Rico isn’t a state so their voters aren’t represented properly.

        • irotsoma@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Never existed in the US. Women, slaves, prisoners, permanent residents, etc… It’s always been in the hands of the rich. They just pretend to listen to the people. But as Trump has many times noted, the vote doesn’t matter. The state can send delegates with any instructions they want and the federal government can decide state delegates are not valid and exclude them. Most states have laws to follow the vote, but it’s not the federal government’s job to enforce those laws if they chose not to follow them. That would be for the people of that state to fight later.

        • nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          5 months ago

          Ask some of the 14-17 year olds working their first jobs paying tax without the ability to vote. That was never a real concern for anyone outside landowning whites.

          • Verat@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            While they dont pay income taxes to the IRS, they do pay customs taxes, federal commodity taxes, and federal payroll taxes (Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment) to the IRS, which sounds alot like federal taxes to me.

            • raef@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              It also feels like it’s something different because they aren’t supposed to go into the general fund, but advance payment for specific benefits

    • 9point6@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      History tells me that if the US is disenfranchising a group of people, it’s usually racism

      • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-10-02-0065

        There was one difficulty however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by the people. The right of suffrage was much more diffusive in the Northern than the Southern States; and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of the Negroes. The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to fewest objections.

        The problem with the south, is that everything they do looks like it’s all about racism, but they actually use their virulent and brutal racism to cover more evil selfishness. They’re just monstrously racist as a hobby, corruption is their true passion.

    • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Puerto Rico is a protectorate and has its own government. Puerto Ricans can’t vote while on the island, but can vote in the US

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Every US State has its own government, too. I don’t see that as an excuse.

        • mkwt@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          The Constitution says that each state shall send electors to the electoral college. So Puerto Rico’s status as an unorganized territory is a bit of a blocker.

          The District of Columbia is also not a part of any state, as specified in the Constitution. However, DC explicitly got some electors in the 23rd amendment, so they can vote for President.

          Really, the idea that the United States might have overseas territories that are not on track to statehood is itself an invention of the twentieth century. (Owing to the 1898 Spanish-American war, which caused the US to take over several parts of the ex-Spanish empire).

          • grue@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Yes, I understand that that’s the reason, but a reason is not the same thing as an excuse.