It’s one of those things we’re all taught in civics class, or at least we think we were. You turn 18, you register, you vote for the President. Simple, right? But for nearly four million people living under the American flag, that’s just not how it works. If you’re sitting in a cafe in San Juan, Puerto Rico, or watching the sunset in Guam, you can’t actually vote for the President of the United States.
Honestly, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher. You’ve got U.S. citizenship. You pay certain federal taxes. You serve in the military at rates often higher than most states. Yet, when the first Tuesday in November rolls around, your ballot doesn't have a line for the Commander-in-Chief.
So, can U.S. territories vote for president? The short answer is no. But the "why" behind it is a wild ride through 1900s-era racism, confusing Supreme Court rulings, and a constitutional quirk that treats where you live as more important than who you are.
The Electoral College Glitch
To understand why folks in the territories are locked out, you have to look at the Electoral College. It’s not a popular vote. Basically, the Constitution says "States" appoint electors.
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Article II, Section 1 is pretty specific. It mentions that "Each State shall appoint" a number of electors. Since Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa aren't states, they don't get electors. No electors, no vote. It’s a technicality that has massive real-world consequences.
The Weird D.C. Exception
You might be thinking, "Wait, D.C. isn't a state, but they vote!" You're right. But it took a literal change to the Constitution to make that happen. In 1961, the 23rd Amendment was ratified, specifically giving the District of Columbia electors.
The territories never got their own amendment. So they stayed in this legal limbo. It’s a strange reality where a U.S. citizen from New York can move to Paris and still vote for president via absentee ballot, but if that same citizen moves to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands? They lose their vote. Gone. Just like that.
The Insular Cases: A Dark Legal Legacy
Why hasn't this been fixed? A lot of it goes back to a series of Supreme Court decisions from the early 20th century known as the Insular Cases.
These cases happened right after the Spanish-American War when the U.S. suddenly found itself in possession of "overseas" lands like Puerto Rico and the Philippines. The judges at the time were... well, they weren't exactly subtle about their biases. They basically argued that these territories were inhabited by "alien races" who might not understand Anglo-Saxon laws.
"The Constitution does not follow the flag."
That was the vibe. The Court created a distinction between "incorporated" territories (places like Hawaii and Alaska that were on the path to statehood) and "unincorporated" territories. For the unincorporated ones, only "fundamental" rights applied. Apparently, voting for the person who sends you to war isn't considered a "fundamental" right in this context.
Even today, in 2026, these cases still stand. Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Sonia Sotomayor have both slammed them recently, calling them "shameful" and "odious," but until the Court actually overturns them or Congress acts, the status quo remains.
Primaries vs. The General Election
Now, here is where it gets really confusing. If you turn on the news in March of an election year, you’ll see candidates campaigning in Puerto Rico or Guam.
Territories do vote in the presidential primaries.
The political parties (Democrats and Republicans) make their own rules. They decided a long time ago that they wanted to include territorial residents in the process of picking a nominee. So, a voter in American Samoa can help decide who the Democratic nominee will be, but they can't vote for that person in the actual election in November. It's like being invited to help pick the ingredients for a pizza but being told you can't have a slice once it’s out of the oven.
The Special Case of American Samoa
American Samoa is actually even more unique. People born there aren't automatically U.S. citizens; they are "U.S. Nationals." They have U.S. passports and can live/work anywhere in the States, but they have to go through a naturalization process to become citizens.
Even if they become citizens, as long as they live in American Samoa, they can't vote for President. It’s a layers-of-the-onion situation of disenfranchisement.
Could This Change Anytime Soon?
There are basically three ways this changes:
- Statehood: If a territory (like Puerto Rico) becomes a state, they automatically get electors.
- Constitutional Amendment: Like what happened with D.C., but this requires two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states. Good luck with that in this political climate.
- The Courts: The Supreme Court could finally toss the Insular Cases into the trash bin of history.
What You Can Actually Do
If you live in a territory or just care about this, "knowing is half the battle" is a cliché, but it's true here. Most Americans have zero clue that their fellow citizens are barred from the ballot box.
- Check your registration: If you are a resident of a state but currently working in a territory, you might still be eligible for an absentee ballot from your "home" state.
- Support the We the People Act: Or similar legislation aimed at clarifying the rights of territorial residents.
- Follow the "Right to Vote" cases: Organizations like Equally American are constantly fighting these battles in court. Keep an eye on their dockets.
The reality of can U.S. territories vote for president is a reminder that the U.S. democratic experiment is still very much a work in progress. It’s a system of "states," not necessarily a system of "people," and those four million citizens in the islands are the ones feeling that distinction most.
To dive deeper into how your specific location affects your federal rights, you should look up the "Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act" (UOCAVA) to see if you qualify for an absentee ballot under current law. Don't assume you're disenfranchised without checking your specific residency status first.