How many people needed for statehood

In other cases, neither the final boundaries, nor the new state constitution, nor the plebiscite has taken place. In these cases, Congress is likely to produce an enabling act to structure those decisions. Regardless, things can go wrong. Voters in the proto-state can reject the state constitution Kansas.

Congress might reject the Constitution Kansas, again. The president might veto the act because he rejects the Constitution Arizona. A political community most commonly might spend years seeking statehood, only to be ignored by Congress many. Often, the proto-state will begin the process without Congress, holding a plebiscite, writing a state constitution, and even electing shadow Senators and representatives, in an effort to spur action in Washington.

In the case of Puerto Rico, boundaries almost certainly will not be a question. Any statehood act is likely to include the admission of the entirety of the current territory. Puerto Rico also has a mature government structure that resembles a state government more closely than a traditional 19th-century territorial government. Most notably, it has an elected governor rather than a federally appointed one.

Both H. The most important question for Puerto Rico statehood, however, is voter approval. Statehood is highly contested in Puerto Rico, with large numbers both in favor and opposed. There have been six plebiscites on the question since , and another one is on the ballot in Both the and plebiscites were controversial.

Statehood won narrowly in In , it won convincingly, but the turnout was only 23 percent of the population, as the anti-statehood party boycotted the vote.

The two bills currently in Congress take different views on the plebiscite question. Congress has never admitted a state to the Union against its will. It is highly unlikely Congress would admit Puerto Rico to the Union absent a bona fide majority vote in the territory in favor of statehood in the upcoming plebiscite. Once a territory has been granted statehood, it has all the rights, powers and duties established by the U.

By , nearly a half-century had passed since Arizona became the 47th state of the United States on February 14, It took Alaska almost a century to achieve statehood. The use of the Alaska Territory as the site of key military bases during World War II led to an influx of Americans, many of whom chose to remain after the war.

During the decade after the war ended in , Congress rejected several bills to make Alaska the 49th state of the Union. However, President Dwight D. However, as a territory, Hawaii was allowed only one nonvoting member in the House of Representatives. Wealthy American landowners and growers in Hawaii took advantage of this fact to keep labor cheap and trade tariffs low.

In , a congressional committee voted in favor of Hawaiian statehood. While the House debated and passed several Hawaii statehood bills, the Senate failed to consider them. Letters endorsing statehood poured in from Hawaiian activist groups, students, and politicians. In March , both the House and Senate finally passed a Hawaii statehood resolution. In June, the citizens of Hawaii voted to accept the statehood bill, and on August 21, , President Eisenhower signed the official proclamation admitting Hawaii as the 50th state.

The District of Columbia, also called Washington, D. Today, like the U. House of Representatives. The enactment of the 23rd Amendment in gave citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote in presidential elections, which they did for the first time on November 3, In , D. However, only one of these bills, with the endorsement of President Bill Clinton , made it to the floor of the House, where it was defeated by a vote of to They should be represented like everybody else.

Admission Act in the U. Admission Act by a vote — largely along party lines. However, the bill died in the Democrat-controlled Senate. On January 4, , Delegate Norton reintroduced H. Admission Act, with a record co-sponsors. On April 22, , the House passed H. The bill must now be considered in the Senate, where its passage remains far from certain, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Democrats have long supported D. Republicans oppose statehood, arguing that a constitutional amendment would be required for the district to become a state.

To address this objection, H. The admission of a state brings with it new electoral votes and new representatives in Congress. The Democrats during the s favored Alaska as the 49th state, while the Republicans wanted Hawaii admitted by itself, with both sides believing there was a political benefit to the admissions process.

President Eisenhower had publicly supported Hawaiian statehood, but he had not supported Alaskan statehood until when it became clear that both territories would need to be admitted as states to keep a political balance in Washington. In January , Alaska became the 49th state, which accelerated the Hawaii statehood process. On March 11, the Senate voted in favor of the Admissions Act, with the House approving the same bill in a to 89 vote on March 12, During the s and s, there was also a serious debate about the status of Puerto Rico as a potential state, or as an independent nation.