Press Release (Spanish Version Here)
Monday, December 19, 2011 San Juan, PR: Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño, along with the Presidents of the House of Representatives and the Senate, announced tonight that after receiving input from the different sectors that have participated in public hearings held at the Legislature that fostered greater participation of the island’s residents in a fair, reasonable, and inclusive manner, agreed to amend the island’s plebiscite status process.
“The amendments discussed and we are announcing today will permit that on the day of the vote, the first phase of the the plebiscite will consist of two questions on the same ballot. We decided that the questions that our constituents will be able to vote on will be detailed as follows:
First: Do you want to maintain the current territorial political status?
Second, voters will select from the following non-territorial options: statehood, independence and sovereign commonwealth, Fortuño said.
“The agreed process includes the main recommendations of the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico. It also addresses the concerns of various groups and members of all parties who participated in the discussion prompted by legislative bodies, which have requested that this process is a simple, fair, and inclusive,” the Chief Executive said.
“This way, all formulas will be represented on the same ballot and in the same query. Similarly, the agreed amendments result in savings for the people of Puerto Rico and will foster a fair and equitable distribution of public funds to the entitled parties or groups who choose to participate in the Consultation,” the Governor added.
Finally, it was noted that the Legislative Reform Consultation for the country will be held on August 19, 2012.
Franky Benítez 
Blah….This is a waste…Plebiscites get nowhere, People decide to stay in limbo status all the time…
*no where….
It’s a shame that more Puerto Ricans are not using this vote to demand that their second class citizenship or right to self-determination are not being capitalized. We should demand a binding vote as well. Thanks for commenting.
“First: Do you want to maintain the current territorial political status?”
“Second, voters will select from the following non-territorial options: statehood, independence and sovereign commonwealth, Fortuño said.”
At first glance this looks good. But I’m afraid it will be the second vote that will confuse most people. What exactly is a “sovereign commonwealth?” As I have said before, ALAS needs to draft a constitution that explains what the relationship under this option will be with the US. Otherwise I fear the first vote will be a huge YES!
Here is my point about people being confused about the Free Association option. Notice in the 1998 results, the Commonwealth option lost a huge amount of votes compared to the previous years. It is clear those votes went to None Of the Above option. Why? I believe those votes would have gone to the Free Association option if it had been explained clearer to the voters. These voters came from the PDP party as indicated by the low .06% vote for Commonwealth. Uncertainty about the Sovereign Commonwealth option coming this August will create the same voter confusion.
Results of Puerto Rican status referenda, vote total (% total).[79]
1967[80] 1993[81] 1998[82][83]
Independence 4,248 (0.6%) 75,620 (4.4%) 39,838 (2.54%)
Commonwealth 425,132 (60.4%) 826,326 (48.6%) 993 (0.06%)
Free Association NA NA 4536 (0.29%)
Statehood 274,312 (39.0%) 788,296 (46.3%) 728,157 (46.49%)
None of the above NA NA 787,900 (50.3%)
Electoral turnout 66%[84][85] 74% 71%
I agree with you, the ELA option should not have been on the ballot, but you know that would have happened because of the PPD bs
But I don’t think that would have changed the way the voting turned out in 1998 Julito. Instead of the Commonwealth option getting 993 votes, those voters would more than likely have gone with None of the Above option. I wonder if those 4,536 people who voted for Free Association knew what they were actually voting for? Mmmm?
If the next vote is not binding, the games will continue no matter the options.
Well, that chart didn’t convert well. Hopefully folks can figure it out.
The only peaceful way to get a governments attentions is by stop spending. The areas most people can stop spending is in the Capitol Goods sector which are the high end luxury items like cars, boats and houses. The other area is in the Discretionary sector which are the low end luxury items like tv’s, stereo’s, smart phone, expensive clothes and fancy restaurants. Certainly people will still need to buy food and clothing but these items can be found at thrift prices.This is how people get heard Julito. Right in the government’s and corporations pocket. As I always say, “fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice then shame on me.”