Puerto Rico could become the 51st state now that a majority of island residents voted in favor of statehood on Election Day.
Nearly 54 percent of nearly 1 million residents voted against maintaining its current status as a commonwealth of the United States, according to the Puerto Rico Election Commission’s website, http://div1.ceepur.org.
And for the first time in the island’s history, 61 percent approved statehood in the nonbinding referendum, according to the results listed on the website.
The issue now goes to Congress, several news reports have stated.
