Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Scenarios Involving the US Presidential Line of Succession

On 2024-10-19, Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 10/19/2024 8:04 AM, Chris Buckley wrote:

On 2024-10-17, William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:

>
Do the voters of DC actually have any legal rights in this?

 
Yes, but exactly where and when the line is drawn hasn't been legally
tested. One of the only Constitutional requirements for a state to be
approved is that it has to be governed by the consent of its citizens
(republican form of government). In practice, this has meant voting
for becoming a state in those questionable cases. Examples include
1) the Virginia retrocession, which had to not only be approved by the
Virginia legislature but also the citizens of Virginia side DC (which at
the time meant white male residents since the major purpose of the Virginia
retrocession was to preserve slavery in that area),
2) The Puerto Rico statehood. US Congress is currently attempting to work
towards a "binding referendum" for Puerto Rico that has to be approved
before Congress will vote on statehood.
 

As I recall it is the residents of Puerto Rico that have, many times,
voted down becoming a state.  Which makes me wonder what the real point
of that proposed "binding referendum" is.

To make it different from all the previous votes! Opinion is actually
pretty evenly split in Puerto Rico, and the pro-statehood faction has
won at least a couple of those votes, though with quibbles as to the
language and process used.

Chris