U.S. Territories & Voting

Editor, Times-Union:
As the current administration in Washington, D.C., pushes for territorial expansion of the United States by repeated demands to bring Greenland into the American Union and now looking at incorporating Micronesia and Marshall Islands as U.S. territories, the status of current U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands should be changed in regards to their ability to participate in presidential elections. These five territories participate in the presidential primary election but not the general election due the fact they are not states and are not part of the Electoral College. There is a precedent for the residents of non-states to be allowed to vote, the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution ratified in 1961, which allowed the residents of Washington, D.C., to vote after nearly 160 years after the enactment of the District of Columbia Organic Act.
Puerto Rico with a population of 3.2 million should be the first to be allowed to do so with the enactment of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution modeled after the 23rd Amendment. This would give it three electoral votes like D.C. and the state of Wyoming. If it were admitted as a state it would receive six electoral votes due to its population.
Twenty-Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Ratified March 29th, 1961
Section 1
The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Purposed 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Section 1:
The U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in Puerto Rico and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2:
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Alexander Houze
Leesburg