The elections of this year are expected to be incredibly contentious, as the margin of votes between the two main parties has remained slim throughout the year. Important swing states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia are the key focus of the candidates, as success in these parts of the country is essential to win the presidency. Unsurprisingly, the discussions on how the results might turn out this year largely focus on the situation in a select few states — presidential candidates have dedicated a large portion of their campaign resources and time to only around a half-dozen critical states where the outcome is, as of now, is still uncertain. However, the way the Electoral College functions in the United States means that, while these states receive all the attention due to their strategic value, a deeper issue regarding the representation of citizens in this country is still being overlooked — there are U.S. citizens who are still not represented in Congress.
The two key examples of this issue are Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico — these two distinct territories have their own distinct problems, but suffer from the same illogical situation of being a part of the United States while having no representation in the decision-making process of the government. In both cases, the question of granting statehood has existed for arguably as long as either territory has been a part of the United States, but the political process has not yielded any tangible result and the status quo of no representation remains today.
In the case of D.C., it is frankly a ludicrous situation that the very capital of this country, despite being subjected to taxation by the federal government like every other state, has no way of voicing itself in Congress. The House’s historic decision in 2021 to extend representation to the citizens of the city, with different proposals — such as granting D.C. total statehood or carving out the territory occupied by the Capitol and nearby government buildings and turning the remaining part of the district into a state of its own — being available, discussable options is historic. The solutions for how representation can be extended to these territories are already here, and challenges regarding integration can similarly be resolved through democratic methods and dialogue. The existing status quo is a hypocrisy that leaves citizens paying taxes without genuine representation in Congress.
The situation is even more dire in the case of Puerto Rico, as the lack of representation in Congress made the island gain the reputation of being “the world’s oldest colony.” Puerto Rico has a complex relationship with the rest of the Union through its commonwealth arrangement, but the support for statehood is rising, reflecting the importance of this issue for this year as well. Citizens in Puerto Rico are going to vote on a nonbinding referendum on their status in the United States this year — their choices are between statehood, outright independence and free association under international law, the final being the already existing situation with separate sovereignty, though any vote will need to be approved by Congress. Puerto Rico’s main problem is that the island is not only physically, but also culturally distant from the rest of the Union, so the privileges of a commonwealth were hitherto beneficial when it came to preserving their independent identity. However, not being a state means that Puerto Rico does not get any attention in the political process, and the decline in investments coupled with increasingly dangerous natural disasters are making life terrible for the citizens who remain unrepresented.
Beyond being a social, economic or cultural matter, questions of statehood are inherently political problems — the stagnant nature of their status reflects the stagnation of wider national politics. The situation of previously solid-blue states such as Michigan turning into swing states already proves that any current trends in how citizens tend to vote ought not to remain so forever — extending the right of representation allows all territories of this country, should they want to become a state, to experience the democratic process equally. The issue of proximity or scale cannot be excused either, as D.C. already surpasses some states in population and economic output while Puerto Rico is closer to the mainland than states like Alaska or Hawaii. The support in these regions for statehood represents the immediate need for genuine, meaningful change.
Congress is the foundation of the democratic process of representation in this country, and having an assembly that brings representatives from all territories in the Union together is an ideal symbol of national unity. This message becomes cynical when double standards like these exist and cause inequality among citizens. Old and stagnant political issues are getting in the way of providing a voice to all people of this country equally, and the situation will remain an ethical dilemma for as long as statehood is not granted. Granting representation in Congress to all citizens, regardless of where in the United States they live, must be the ultimate goal in achieving greater unity in the country.
Deniz Gulay is a sophomore majoring in history.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.