interesting, It doesnt appear Puerto Ricos citizens can vote for the president but can effect the primaries. The only votes for president would be US citizens now living in PR and I assume would be counted in whatever state they registered in but I'm admittedly spit-balling
Here's
an article discussing PR:
Voters in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are not permitted to vote in the presidential election under the provisions set forth in the Electoral College. But they do have a say in who gets to the White House. That's because voters in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa are permitted to participate in the presidential primary and are granted delegates by the two major political parties.
In other words, Puerto Rico and the other U.S. territories get to help nominate the presidential candidates. But voters there cannot actually participate in the election itself because of the Electoral College system.
Can Puerto Ricans Vote?
Why can't voters in
Puerto Rico and the other U.S. territories help elect the president of the United States? Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution makes it clear that only states can participate in the electoral process. The U.S. Constitution reads:
"Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress."1
According to Bryan Whitener, spokesperson for the Election Assistance Commission:
"The Electoral College system does not provide for residents of U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands) to vote for President."2
The only way citizens of the U.S. territories can participate in the presidential elections is if they have official residency in the United States and vote by absentee ballot or travel to their state to vote.
This disenfranchisement or denial of the right to vote in national elections—including presidential elections—also applies to U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico or any of the other U.S. unincorporated territories. Although the committees of both the Republican and Democratic Parties in Puerto Rico select voting delegates to the parties’ national presidential nominating conventions and state presidential primaries or caucuses, U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico or the other territories cannot vote in federal elections unless they also maintain a legal voting residence in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia.3