The island territories and democracy

Left to right: Flags of Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and U.S. Virgin Islands. (Images from 1,2,3,4,5.)

The United States has five inhabited island territories. These five territories are not states, which means that the residents of those territories do not get to vote for representatives, senators, or presidents. They lack democratic representation — and they should have it.

There are several solutions to this problem: Statehood or independence for each territory; admission of territories as a group in a State of the Territories; or a constitutional amendment granting Congressional representation and electoral votes to territories.

To give an idea of the relative scale of the island territories, here they are together. Some small islands omitted. (Image built from 1,2,3,4.)

Democratic representation is the founding principle of the United States. Remember, in 1776, a group of rebellious colonists, fed up with being governed remotely by the British crown without representation in Parliament, declared their independence. This began the American Revolutionary War. Nonvoting territorial status within the United States was always meant to be temporary.

There are several options to move forward: Independence, statehood, or a constitutional amendment granting democratic representation to territories. The option of statehood comes with several variations, including annexing territories into existing states or…