Puerto Rico finalizes details of upcoming referendum on political status amid criticism over cost

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Plans to hold a nonbinding referendum on Puerto Rico’s political status came under scrutiny Wednesday for its multimillion-dollar cost as election officials announced the order and description of choices on the upcoming ballot.

The $1.3 million referendum that critics have described as “inconsequential” will feature three choices in the following order: independence with free association; statehood and independence. Under the free association option, issues like foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar would be negotiated.

The order of options was set following a televised drawing held Wednesday that was supervised by judges at Puerto Rico’s elections commission.

Regardless of the outcome of the referendum scheduled for the Nov. 5 general elections, the island’s status will not change. That would require approval from the U.S. Congress and the U.S. president.

Jessika Padilla, the elections commission’s alternate president, said the agency had an original budget of $6.2 million for the upcoming elections but was awarded $7.5 million, with the additional funds going toward the referendum.

Critics note that Puerto Rico is emerging from the biggest public debt restructuring in U.S. history after announcing in 2015 that it was unable to pay a more than $70 billion debt load following decades of mismanagement, corruption and excessive borrowing.

Jesús Manuel Ortiz, leader of the main opposition Popular Democratic Party, said in recent days that the referendum is “a totally unjustified expense at a time when the (island) is experiencing a real crisis in the cost of living.”

Meanwhile, leaders of the Puerto Rican Independence Party have gone to court to challenge the referendum. The island’s Supreme Court issued a resolution last week stating it would hear the case.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi of the pro-statehood Progressive New Party had announced on July 1 that he would hold a referendum and has defended his decision. He has repeatedly said the island’s 3.2 million U.S. citizens lack equality and noted they are not allowed to vote in U.S. general elections.

The referendum was announced a month after Pierluisi, a Democrat, lost in his party’s primary to Jenniffer González, a Republican who is Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress. The two ran together in 2020.

Politics in Puerto Rico are defined by the island’s political status, so it’s common to find both Democrats and Republicans in the same party.

González is a supporter of former President Donald Trump, who has said he doesn’t support statehood for Puerto Rico. González, however, has pledged to push for statehood if she wins in November.

Puerto Rico already has held six referendums, the most recent one in 2020, when voters were asked a single question: “Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?”

Nearly 53% voted in favor of statehood, with only about half of registered voters participating in that year’s general elections.