Federal voting rights in Puerto Rico

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/federal-voting-rights-in-puerto-rico

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the congressional delegate status?Puerto Rico's representative in the House is a non-voting Resident Commissioner
2. What does it mean that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory?Puerto Rico is not one of the 50 states. Congress has special powers to govern it, so its residents are treated differently from state residents.
3. Can people in Puerto Rico vote for the U.S. President?No, they cannot vote in the general election for President or Vice‑President. They can only vote in presidential primaries to choose delegates.

Plenary Powers: Complete and absolute powers that a governing body holds over a specific area or subject.
Insular Cases: A series of U.S. Supreme Court rulings from the early 1900s defining the constitutional status of territories.
Unincorporated Territory: A U.S. territory to which the U.S. Constitution does not fully apply unless Congress explicitly extends it.