Now that is an interesting step. And I suspect it will make for some very interesting developments over the next few years, and some political gyrations as well. Bluntly, there are a lot of people who don't want a bunch of Puerto Ricans involved in future voting, for a variety of reasons, and how that plays out will be … tricky.
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Puerto Rico votes to be US state
Voters in Puerto Rico have supported a non-binding referendum to become a full US state.
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How many EV would Puerto Rico be worth? 😉
Well, that;s part of it — the number of House Reps is currently capped. So there would be not just what they would get, but who would lose.
They would get at least from their Senators. Let me do some quick calcs.
Puerto Rico falls between Oklahoma and Connecticut, which have 5 US Reps and 7 EC electors each.
It ranks 29th among US states and territories in population.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_population
But is it capped by amendment or law? They could easily make it a state and raise the cap with the same bill if they wanted.
Interesting. When Alaska and Hawaii became states they each got one rep temporarily which increased the max until after the next census.
Apparently it's by law, not by constitutional amendment. http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-602272.html has some entertaining discussion, centered around the Reapportionment Act of 1929 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reapportionment_Act_of_1929).
One consideration is whether it would be more painful (and for whom) to reallocate based on 435, or dilute power X% by bumping it to (let's say) 440 (and increasing the electoral college to either 540 or 545 — either way, Nate Silver would need to rename his site).
Cool Beans!
Our flag looks nice with 50 stars. It would be a shame to change it. Maybe if Puerto Rico joins, we could lose Texas?
While it’s a pleasant prospect, a 51-star flag is quite doable: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51_star_flag
Yes, I know. It’s just that 50 is an aesthetically pleasing number. Plus, I like the idea of kicking Texas out.
Fair enough. Though I think 48 was more easily divided into. Can I nominate a couple of others to give the boot?