Por Mariano Castillo

(CNN) — Durante un día de elecciones eclipsado, los puertorriqueños votaron a favor de la condición de estado en un referéndum no vinculante, primera vez que esta iniciativa obtiene el apoyo de la mayoría.

Los puertorriqueños expresaron sus deseos en dos partes: primero, por un margen de 54 contra 46%, los votantes rechazaron la situación actual como protectorado de Estados Unidos. En una pregunta aparte, el 61% eligió la condición de estado como alternativa, en comparación con el 33% que votó por la “soberanía libre asociada” semiautónoma, y el 6% que votó por la independencia total.

Los factores que contribuyeron a que se apoyara la condición de estado fueron la crisis económica y la reducción de la población, a diferencia de los referendos fallidos de 1967, 1993 y 1998, dijo el secretario de Estado de Puerto Rico, Kenneth McClintock.

“Creo que la gente se acaba de dar cuenta de que la relación actual simplemente no genera la cantidad de empleos que necesitamos”, dijo. El éxodo de los residentes de la isla ha alcanzado una estadística desconcertante: el 58% de los puertorriqueños vive en Estados Unidos continental, dijo McClintock. “Cuando tu situación política ahuyenta a la mitad de la población, es momento de rechazarla”, dijo.

Sin embargo, algunos analistas dicen que las opiniones acerca de la situación de estado no han cambiado a pesar de los resultados del martes.

Jorge Benítez, politólogo de la Universidad Río Piedras de Puerto Rico, dijo que la preferencia de muchos de los votantes es tomar en consideración un reporte del gobierno de Obama que presenta varias opciones no coloniales antes de elegir un estatus alternativo. Esta opción, que es respaldada por el partido que ganó la gubernatura, no apareció en las boletas.

“No se puede decir que el respaldo a la situación de estado no ha aumentado; ha aumentado”, dijo Benítez. “Sin embargo, lo único que se puede descifrar con certeza a partir del voto es que la gente de Puerto Rico quiere cambiar el estatus actual. No está claro qué cambio queremos, pero queremos un cambio”, dijo. El resultado del referéndum fue criticado en otros frentes.

Hay algunos votantes que prefieren el estatus actual, pero que no estaban de acuerdo con la forma en la que se definió en las boletas, con lo que se incrementó el número de votos que se oponen al status quo, dijo Luis Agrait, profesor de Historia en la Universidad de Puerto Rico.

En segundo lugar, una gran cantidad de boletas, un tercio de todos los votos emitidos, se dejaron en blanco en la pregunta sobre el estatus alterno preferido. Si asumimos que esos votos en blanco son en contra de la situación de estado, el verdadero resultado de la opción de estado sería menor al 50%, argumenta Agrait.

Sin embargo, McClintock explica los votos en blanco al decir que quienes votaron por mantener el estatus actual habrían dejado en blanco la pregunta de las alternativas.

El referéndum es no vinculante, pero obliga a los legisladores de Washington a actuar, dijo. “La gente está retirando su consentimiento para ser gobernados de la forma en la que son gobernados”, dijo McClintock, e hizo referencia a la Declaración de Independencia de Estados Unidos, en la que se establece que el poder del gobierno nace del consentimiento de los gobernados.

“El Congreso deberá abordar este tema y tendrán que poner atención”, dijo. Los casi cuatro millones de habitantes de Puerto Rico son ciudadanos estadounidenses, pero no pudieron elegir al presidente, aunque los casi cinco millones de puertorriqueños que viven en los 50 estados de la Unión Americana tienen derecho absoluto al voto.

El territorio jugó un papel importante en las primarias republicanas de este año, cuando los candidatos Mitt Romney y Rick Santorum visitaron la isla, buscando el apoyo de sus delegados para las elecciones primarias.

Santorum, exsenador por Pennsylvania, creó una pequeña tormenta política en la isla cuando dijo que el inglés debería ser el idioma principal en Puerto Rico antes de poder obtener la calidad de estado.

Romney dijo que no habría “condiciones” al idioma para que Puerto Rico pudiera ganar la condición de estado, aunque en un debate de CNN, dijo que el inglés debería ser el idioma oficial del país.

El presidente Obama realizó una visita oficial a Puerto Rico el año pasado, la primera visita presidencial oficial a la isla en 50 años.

(CNN) — In an overshadowed Election Day contest, Puerto Ricans voted in favor of statehood in a nonbinding referendum, marking the first time such an initiative garnered a majority.

Puerto Ricans were asked about their desires in two parts. First, by a 54% to 46% margin, voters rejected their current status as a U.S. commonwealth. In a separate question, 61% chose statehood as the alternative, compared with 33% for the semi-autonomous «sovereign free association» and 6% for outright independence.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Puerto Ricans voted in nonbinding referendum on status as U.S. commonwealth
• A majority rejected the current status and favored statehood as an alternative
• It is the first time a majority of voters choose statehood
• But analysts find problems drawing conclusions from the vote

Read more: Puerto Rico: A forgotten front in America’s drug war?

An economic downturn and shrinking population were the factors that contributed to the support for statehood, where referendums in 1967, 1993 and 1998 failed, Puerto Rico Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock said.

«I think people just came to realize that the current relationship simply does not create the number of jobs that we need,» he said.

Opinion: Treat U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico fairly

«When you have a political status that scares away half of your population, it is time to reject that political status,» he said.

But some analysts say the views on statehood have not changed, despite Tuesday’s results.

The preference of many voters is to consider a report by the Obama administration that lays out several non-colonial options before choosing an alternative status, said Jorge Benitez, a political scientist at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras. This option, which is supported by the party that won the governorship, did not appear on the ballot.

«This isn’t to say that support for statehood hasn’t increased; it has,» Benitez said. «But the only thing we can decipher with certainty from the vote is that the people of Puerto Rico want a change to the current status.

«It isn’t clear what change we want, but we want change,» he said.

The results of the referendum met with other criticisms, too.

There were voters who prefer the current status but didn’t agree with the way it was defined on the ballot, thereby inflating the number of votes against the status quo, said Luis Agrait, a history professor at the University of Puerto Rico.

Secondly, a large number of ballots — one-third of all votes cast — were left blank on the question of preferred alternative status. If you assume those blank votes are anti-statehood votes, the true result for the statehood option would be less than 50%, Agrait argues.

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But McClintock accounts for the number of blank votes by explaining that those who voted to keep the current status would have left the question of alternatives blank.

The referendum is nonbinding, but it compels lawmakers in Washington to act, he said.

«The people are withdrawing their consent to be governed the way they are governed,» McClintock said, citing the Declaration of Independence, which states that a government’s power comes from the consent of those governed.

«Congress will have to address this and will have to pay attention,» he said.

The roughly 4 million residents of the Puerto Rico are American citizens but couldn’t vote for president, but the almost 5 million Puerto Ricans living in the 50 U.S. states have full voting rights.

The territory played a role in presidential politics this year during the GOP primaries, when candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum visited the island, seeking its delegates for the primary election.

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, created a small political firestorm on the island when he said English should be the principal language in Puerto Rico before it could gain statehood.

Romney said he would have «no preconditions» on language for Puerto Rico to gain statehood, though during a CNN debate, he said English should be the nation’s official language.

Last year, President Obama made an official visit to Puerto Rico, the first such visit by a president in 50 years.

Ricardo Arduengo  /  AP

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Ricans faced a fundamental question on Election Day: Should they change their ties with the United States?

Citizens in the U.S. island territory cannot vote in the U.S. presidential election, but many were excited to participate in a referendum on whether to push the territory toward statehood, greater autonomy or independence.

Car horns blared and party flags waved after polling stations closed following what election officials said was a high voter turnout. During the day, many voters carried umbrellas against the blistering tropical sun as temperatures neared 90 degrees Fahrenheit (31 degrees Celsius).

The two-part referendum first asked voters if they wanted to change Puerto Rico’s 114-year relationship with the United States. A second question gave voters three alternatives if they wanted a change: become a U.S. state, gain independence, or have a «sovereign free association,» a designation that would give more autonomy for the territory of 4 million people.

With 243 of 1,643 precincts reporting late Tuesday, 75,188 voters, or 53 percent, said they did not want to continue under the current political status. Forty-seven percent, or 67,304 voters, supported the status quo.

On the second question, 65 percent favored statehood, followed by 31 percent for sovereign free association and 4 percent for independence.

«Puerto Rico has to be a state. There is no other option,» said 25-year-old Jerome Lefebre, who picked up his grandfather before driving to the polls. «We’re doing OK, but we could do better. We would receive more benefits, a lot more financial help.»

«Puerto Rico’s problem is not its political status,» he said. «I think that the United States is the best country in the world, but I am Puerto Rican first.»

Both President Barack Obama and rival Mitt Romney said they supported the referendum, with Obama pledging to respect the will of the people if there was a clear majority. Any change would require approval by the U.S. Congress.

Puerto Rico held non-binding referendums in 1967, 1993 and 1998, with statehood never garnering a clear majority and independence never obtaining more than 5 percent of the vote.

The island also was electing legislators and a governor, with Gov. Luis Fortuno of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party seeking a second term. Fortuno, a Republican, was challenged by Alejandro Garcia Padilla, whose Popular Democratic Party favors the status quo. With 817 of 1,643 precincts reporting late Tuesday, Garcia had 427,604 votes, or 48 percent, while Fortuno had 422,506 votes, or 47 percent.

Associated Press writer Ben Fox contributed to this report.

By JASON KOEBLER

A supporter of Alejandro Garcia Padilla, candidate for governor of the Popular Democratic Party, cheers during his closing campaign rally in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov. 4, 2012.

Tuesday, for the first time in its history, more Puerto Ricans favored becoming a state than maintaining the island’s status quo as a U.S. Commonwealth. But put away the needle and thread for now — it’ll likely be at least 2015 before America sews a 51st state onto its flag.

Adding a state to the union is a fairly easy process, legally speaking. Article Four of the Constitution allows Congress to admit new states into the union with simple majority votes in both houses of Congress (and a Presidential signature). Puerto Rico is a United States territory without its own sovereignty, so technically Congress doesn’t even need the island’s approval.

By a vote of 54-46 percent on Tuesday, Puerto Ricans, in a non-binding referendum, said that they would like to change their Commonwealth status. In a second question, 61 percent said they would support statehood, 33 percent said they’d like a new pact with the United States, and just 5 percent said they’d like to become independent. The last time Puerto Ricans were asked about their feelings on statehood, in 1998, a majority opposed becoming a state.

In March, President Obama wrote he is «firmly committed to the principle that the question of political status is a matter of self-determination for the people of Puerto Rico,» and would presumably support Puerto Rican statehood.

[BEAT THE RUSH: A Puerto Rico Travel Guide]

Politically, there’s little chance of Puerto Rico becoming the 51st state with a split Congress. Puerto Ricans in the United States vote overwhelmingly for Democrats, and elected officials in Puerto Rico are nearly always Democrats, so House Republicans have little reason to approve a Puerto Rican statehood bill.

«While they have different party names in Puerto Rico, they’re usually one shade of Democrat or another,» John Hudak, a governance studies fellow at the Brookings Institution, says of the island’s politics.

That becomes troublesome with a Republican-controlled House, Hudak says. The situation is similar to one in 2009, where a compromise was nearly struck between House Democrats and Republicans that would have given Washington, D.C., a voting member of Congress. The compromise would have added two House seats, with the second going to a newly created (and likely conservative) district in Utah.

That deal ultimately failed, and Puerto Rican statehood is even more problematic. With statehood, Puerto Rico would get a voting member in the House and two Senators.

[RELATED: Puerto Ricans Key in Fla. Presidential Vote]

«If it became a state, it would gain seats in the House—that could be offset by expanding the size of the House so Republican states got more members,» Hudak says. «But there’s no solution to the two Democratic Senators they’d send, and there’s no Congressional remedy to offset that. That, and they’d get additional electoral college votes. Those are the dealbreakers.»

That doesn’t mean the dream of Puerto Rican statehood is dead. If Democrats are able to take back the House and hold onto the Senate in the 2014 elections, Puerto Rican statehood is an issue that could be tackled. Even if Democrats don’t have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, Hudak says that with the opening of the new Congress in 2015, the Senate could pass a rules package that prohibits the filibustering of statehood bills.

«There’s a politically strategic way to get this done,» he says.

With Tuesday’s vote, Hudak says that if Democrats make gains in 2015, they have an easy mandate to follow through with statehood.

«Given the referendum, we might find that this moves quickly in the House if the Democrats take the House back,» he says. «As I understand it, this is a clear signal to Congress that they’re ready, and that’s typically what Congress looks for.»

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Jason Koebler is a science and technology reporter for U.S. News & World Report. You can follow him on Twitter or reach him at jkoebler@usnews.com.