Sonia
May 9th, 2005, 01:55 PM
Puerto Rico argues for vote in U.S. races
The Associated Press
BOSTON - Denying residents of Puerto Rico the chance to vote in U.S. presidential elections creates a ''government without consent,'' a lawyer told a federal appeals court Wednesday. ''We have the same at stake in presidential elections as all other American citizens,'' attorney Gregorio Igartua told the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in arguing that presidential voting privileges should be extended to island residents.
Fighting back tears, Igartua noted 28 American citizens from Puerto Rico have died serving in Iraq and Afghanistan - yet none had the right to vote for the president who sent them there to fight. ''This situation must be ended,'' he said. ''You can make history today.''
Gregory Katsas, a lawyer from the U.S. Attorney General's Office, argued the court doesn't have the authority to order Congress to count electoral votes from Puerto Rico, or admit the territory as a state. A three-judge panel last year rejected Igartua's petition to allow Puerto Rican residents to vote in U.S. presidential elections; Igartua asked that the full court review the case.
Previous federal court rulings have held that the Constitution must be amended, or Puerto Rico must become a state, before its residents can vote for president. The full seven-member appeals court didn't immediately issue a ruling. The appeals court already has rejected Igartua's claims three times, including in 1994 and 2000.
The Associated Press
BOSTON - Denying residents of Puerto Rico the chance to vote in U.S. presidential elections creates a ''government without consent,'' a lawyer told a federal appeals court Wednesday. ''We have the same at stake in presidential elections as all other American citizens,'' attorney Gregorio Igartua told the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in arguing that presidential voting privileges should be extended to island residents.
Fighting back tears, Igartua noted 28 American citizens from Puerto Rico have died serving in Iraq and Afghanistan - yet none had the right to vote for the president who sent them there to fight. ''This situation must be ended,'' he said. ''You can make history today.''
Gregory Katsas, a lawyer from the U.S. Attorney General's Office, argued the court doesn't have the authority to order Congress to count electoral votes from Puerto Rico, or admit the territory as a state. A three-judge panel last year rejected Igartua's petition to allow Puerto Rican residents to vote in U.S. presidential elections; Igartua asked that the full court review the case.
Previous federal court rulings have held that the Constitution must be amended, or Puerto Rico must become a state, before its residents can vote for president. The full seven-member appeals court didn't immediately issue a ruling. The appeals court already has rejected Igartua's claims three times, including in 1994 and 2000.