3.6 Million Americans Are Excluded From Federal Elections
Approximately 3.6 million U.S. residents cannot vote for president, have no senators, and hold only nonvoting representation in the House. They are not disenfranchised because of a crime or a state law. They are excluded because they live in U.S. territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Territory residents can participate in presidential primaries. That access ends there. They cannot cast a ballot in the general election, and their elected delegates to Congress can speak on the House floor but cannot vote on legislation that directly governs their lives.
3.6 million U.S. Territory residents who have no senators and only nonvoting House delegates, as of June 2026
This is not an oversight. It is the direct result of a legal framework the Supreme Court built starting in May 1901, the 125th anniversary of which falls this year.
The Insular Cases Created a Legal Second Tier
The Spanish-American War ended in 1898 and left the U.S. with new territory: Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, adding roughly 8 million people to the country overnight. Congress and the courts then faced a direct question about political status.
The Supreme Court answered it in the Insular Cases, a series of rulings beginning in 1901. The Court drew a distinction between “incorporated” territories, which were on a path to statehood and full constitutional rights, and “unincorporated” territories, which were not. Puerto Rico and Guam fell into the second category.
The economic motive was not hidden. Congress had applied tariffs to Puerto Rican goods despite Puerto Rico being U.S. territory. The Insular Cases gave that arrangement a legal foundation by treating unincorporated territories as belonging to, but not fully part of, the United States.
Who Has Power Over This Now
Congress holds the authority to change the political status of U.S. Territories. It can extend statehood, grant electoral votes, or create voting representation in both chambers. It has done none of these things for the current five territories. The Supreme Court has also been asked in recent years to revisit the Insular Cases framework, but has declined to overturn it outright.
Elliot Mamet of Princeton University and Austin Bussing of Trinity University, writing for Civil Beat in June 2026, note that these rules “indelibly shaped the nation’s democracy” and continue to govern what rights territory residents can exercise today.
As the U.S. marks its 250th year, more than three million of its citizens remain outside the political system that claims to represent them.
What You Can Do Now
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Call your House representative at (202) 225-3121. Ask them to co-sponsor the Puerto Rico Status Act, which would put Puerto Rico statehood and other status options to a binding vote. Tell them 3.6 million Americans have no vote in federal elections and Congress has the power to change that.
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Contact both of your senators at (202) 224-3121. Tell them the Senate has never passed a bill granting statehood or electoral votes to any current U.S. Territory, and you want them to bring it to the floor. A senator who represents a state cannot ignore that territory residents they help govern cannot vote back.
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Submit public comment to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which oversees U.S. Territories. You can find the committee’s contact form at energy.senate.gov. Urge them to hold hearings on voting representation for territory residents ahead of the 2026 midterms.
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Share your representatives’ positions on territory voting rights publicly. Look up their voting records on Puerto Rico Status Act votes at congress.gov/member. If they have not co-sponsored any representation legislation, ask them in writing why not and post their response.
Sources
Honolulu Civil Beat: 3.6 Million Territory Residents Have Voice in Congress But No Vote
Justia Supreme Court: Downes v. Bidwell, First Major Insular Case Decision, 1901
Brennan Center for Justice: Voting Rights for U.S. Territories Explained
Congressional Research Service: Political Status of U.S. Territories Overview