On 2/27/2010 12:50 PM, John Sessoms wrote:
From: "P. J. Alling"
On 2/26/2010 9:54 PM, John Sessoms wrote:
> From: "P. J. Alling"
>> On 2/25/2010 8:30 PM, John Sessoms wrote:
>
>>> > I'm pretty sure they do already get to vote for President, so
>>> there > must be some way to count their "electoral" vote.
>>> >
>> For them it's a beauty contest vote. It doesn't count they
don't >> have representation in congress so they don;t get an
electoral vote.
>
> Apparently I misunderstood how it works.
>
> Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, but residents of Puerto Rico,
Guam > and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not vote in the national
elections > unless they're registered to vote in one of the states
or in DC, in > which case they should be able to vote an absentee
ballot for the > district in which they're registered if they happen
to be back in > Puerto Rico.
>
> Persons born in Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are
U.S. > Citizens.
>
> Persons born in the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa
are > U.S. Nationals, but are not U.S. Citizens. U.S. Nationals may
reside > and work in the United States. They don't have to have a
green card or > work permit. They are not prohibited by federal law
from voting in > national elections, but no state permits them to do
so.
>
> U.S. Nationals may apply for citizenship under the same rules as >
resident aliens.
>
> DC doesn't get representation in Congress, but they do have 3 >
electors; the number they would be entitled to IF DC was a state.
>
I don't know where you got that last one from but I believe it's
incorrect. DC has no electors, and cannot, the number of electors is
defined in the constitution as the number of senators plus the number
of congressmen, since DC has neither then DC has no electors. For DC
to be granted electors without representation in Congress would
require a constitutional amendment, which is not likely to happen.
Amendment 23 - Presidential Vote for District of Columbia
1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United
States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A
number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole
number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the
District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more
than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those
appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the
purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be
electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and
perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Ratified 29 Mar 1961
Aparently I was wrong, however I happen to think this amendment is also
wrong, it violates one of the rationals for having a federal district.
Perhaps that's why I'd prefer to forget it. Too bad amendments to the
constitution can't be declared unconstitutional.
--
{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033{\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Courier
New;}}
\viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs20 I've just upgraded to Thunderbird 3.0 and the
interface subtly weird.\par
}
--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
[email protected]
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow
the directions.
