No, people living in Puerto Rico cannot vote for U.S. president in the November general election, even though almost all of them are U.S. citizens.

Can Puerto Rico vote for president?

  • Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, not a state, so it has no Electoral College votes.
  • The U.S. Constitution gives the power to choose presidential electors only to the states and Washington, D.C. , not to territories.
  • Because there are no electors from Puerto Rico, residents on the island cannot cast an official vote for president in the general election.

Quick example:
A U.S. citizen in Florida can vote for president because Florida has Electoral College votes. A U.S. citizen living in San Juan, Puerto Rico, cannot, because Puerto Rico has none.

What can Puerto Ricans do in elections?

  • Primaries: Puerto Rico holds Democratic and Republican presidential primaries and sends party delegates to the national conventions.
  • Symbolic vote: In recent cycles, Puerto Rico has created a separate “symbolic” presidential ballot in the November election; it lets people express a preference, but it has no legal effect on Electoral College results.
  • If they move to a state: Any Puerto Rican who lives in one of the 50 states or D.C., registers, and meets normal voting rules can vote for president like any other voter there.

Why is it like this?

  • Federal voting rules for president come from Article II of the U.S. Constitution and the 12th Amendment , which tie presidential elections to the states’ choice of electors, not directly to individual citizenship.
  • Courts have repeatedly ruled that U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico do not have a constitutional right to vote for president while residing on the island, precisely because Puerto Rico is not a state and has no electors.
  • Similar limits apply to other territories like Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Latest news and ongoing debate

  • The issue remains a trending topic every presidential cycle, with many commentators calling it “taxation without representation” and highlighting that over 3 million U.S. citizens on the island have no presidential vote.
  • Puerto Rico’s political status (statehood, independence, or an enhanced commonwealth) is at the heart of this debate, because full statehood would bring Electoral College votes and a presidential vote; staying a territory keeps the current limits.
  • Recent symbolic ballots and high-profile media discussions are meant to keep the question in front of Congress and the wider U.S. public.

Bottom line:
People living in Puerto Rico cannot vote for U.S. president in the official November election, but they can vote in party primaries and, in some years, on a symbolic presidential ballot. Puerto Ricans who move to a state or D.C. can then vote for president like any other voter.

TL;DR:
“Can Puerto Rico vote for president?”

  • Island residents: No official presidential vote in November.
  • Yes to primaries and symbolic ballots.
  • Yes to full presidential voting rights if they reside in a U.S. state or D.C.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.