6 ms·

As a United States citizen, you can vote in congressional and presidential elections from Antarctica or low Earth orbit, but not if you're a resident of Puerto

As a United States citizen, you can vote in congressional and presidential elections from Antarctica or low Earth orbit, but not if you're a resident of Puerto Rico (an American territory with a population of 3.3 million).

soulofmischief 4y ago
duped 4y ago
Voting is a politic process, not a technological one.
- dry_soup 4y ago
  That's my point
vinay427 4y ago
This doesn’t make it democratic, as PR is still bound by many laws made in Washington, but it is at least the one place where US citizens are free from personal tax obligations to the IRS, as far as I’m aware. The actual taxes while living overseas are often negligible or far lower due to the FEIE threshold, but in PR they don’t apply at all.
- devoutsalsa 4y ago
  Act 60 is fairly limited in scope, and you can only get tax breaks on a couple things. All other income may not be subject to federal taxes, but you will pay Puerto Rican taxes, which may even be higher than federal taxes. https://www.anchin.com/articles/puerto-rico-act-60-how-you-can-lower-your-federal-and-state-tax-rates-under-the-resident-tax-incentive-code/ https://www.anchin.com/articles/puerto-rico-act-60-how-you-c...
  - willcipriano 4y ago
    Residents of states also pay state taxes, and in high tax states those can exceed federal taxes so the "they also pay Puerto Rican taxes" line doesn't get them off the hook in any way.
    - anamexis 4y ago
      Are there really states that pay higher taxes than federal? In California, a high tax state, it was nowhere close.
      - willcipriano 4y ago
        I mean to say state on down, including property taxes, sales tax, gasoline taxes, local payroll taxes. Could be wrong but if you had a house that went up in value over the past few years I could see a situation where the federal income tax you pay is less than your property tax bill alone. Edit: The more I think about it the very poor pay no federal income tax and the struggling pay very little, they could easily exceed it with cigarette or alcohol taxes for example.
        roflyear 4y ago
        Yeah only applies to very low income and in those cases most progressive states do give breaks on stuff like property tax.
        anamexis 4y ago
        Fair enough, but for what it's worth, cigarettes, alcohol and gasoline are all taxed federally as well.
  - vinay427 4y ago
    Act 60 seems like a limited tax incentive scheme. I'm referring to the general clause that income of Puerto Rican residents sourced in PR is not subject to personal income tax. From your linked source: > The U.S. tax code (Section 933) allows a bona fide resident of Puerto Rico to exclude Puerto Rico-source income from his or her U.S. gross income for U.S. tax purposes. Or there's more on the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Puerto_Rico#Federal_taxes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Puerto_Rico#Federa...
- notch656a 4y ago
  Interestingly American Samoa is only loosely bound to constitution / Washington. AFAIK it's the only territory/state with institutional laws that expressly protect racism and sexism. For instance, only ethnic Samoans can control most of the property, and on one island women are barred from certain leadership positions for 'cultural' reasons. And people from American Samoa, as "nationals" but not citizens, can't even vote AFTER they come to the mainland (unlike Puerto Ricans). Interestingly you rarely hear social justice warriors fighting against the racism/sexism of American Samoa nor the racism that stops them from voting on the mainland -- happening by statutory decree within US borders.
iso1631 4y ago
I don't believe people on the ISS or in Antarctica are counted as resident in those places. If you're in Paris for a month, or sailing a boat over the atlantic, as long as you live in Idaho you can vote. If you are a US citizen, born in Idaho, but moved to Paris and are officially resident in Paris, can you vote?
- pstrateman 4y ago
  Yes
- TotempaaltJ 4y ago
  Yes! https://votesfromabroad.com/ https://votesfromabroad.com/
  - iso1631 4y ago
    So a US citizen born in Idaho who moves to Paris can vote, but a US citizen born in Idaho who moves to Puerto Rico can't?
    - Cyberdog 4y ago
      If they have become a citizen of PR and aren't solely there on vacation (I believe the laws that define state citizenship themselves vary state-by-state), yes, they can't vote in federal elections. There are still local and territory-wide elections they can vote in. This is silly, yes. The answer is making PR a state, but historically they haven't wanted to be one and Washington has been hesitant to make them one. Here is a short video on the matter which coincidentally was published a few days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk6JrUYLyWw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk6JrUYLyWw
      - pclmulqdq 4y ago
        Anecdotally, the elite in PR are pretty happy with the current tax arrangement and won't have a good argument for it if they push for statehood.
      - 4y ago
mlindner 4y ago
If you're a US citizen but your home residence is in Puerto Rico, then you can't vote in congressional or presidential elections from Antarctica or Low Earth Orbit either.
divbzero 4y ago
Similarly, you can vote in congressional elections from Antarctica or low Earth orbit, but not if you’re a resident of Washington DC.
oneoff786 4y ago
Although thanks to the electoral college, your vote is completely irrelevant in most states for presidential elections

soulofmischief 4y ago

duped 4y ago

Voting is a politic process, not a technological one.

dry_soup 4y ago
That's my point

vinay427 4y ago

This doesn’t make it democratic, as PR is still bound by many laws made in Washington, but it is at least the one place where US citizens are free from personal tax obligations to the IRS, as far as I’m aware. The actual taxes while living overseas are often negligible or far lower due to the FEIE threshold, but in PR they don’t apply at all.

devoutsalsa 4y ago
Act 60 is fairly limited in scope, and you can only get tax breaks on a couple things. All other income may not be subject to federal taxes, but you will pay Puerto Rican taxes, which may even be higher than federal taxes. https://www.anchin.com/articles/puerto-rico-act-60-how-you-can-lower-your-federal-and-state-tax-rates-under-the-resident-tax-incentive-code/ https://www.anchin.com/articles/puerto-rico-act-60-how-you-c...
- willcipriano 4y ago
  Residents of states also pay state taxes, and in high tax states those can exceed federal taxes so the "they also pay Puerto Rican taxes" line doesn't get them off the hook in any way.
  - anamexis 4y ago
    Are there really states that pay higher taxes than federal? In California, a high tax state, it was nowhere close.
    - willcipriano 4y ago
      I mean to say state on down, including property taxes, sales tax, gasoline taxes, local payroll taxes. Could be wrong but if you had a house that went up in value over the past few years I could see a situation where the federal income tax you pay is less than your property tax bill alone. Edit: The more I think about it the very poor pay no federal income tax and the struggling pay very little, they could easily exceed it with cigarette or alcohol taxes for example.
      - roflyear 4y ago
        Yeah only applies to very low income and in those cases most progressive states do give breaks on stuff like property tax.
      - anamexis 4y ago
        Fair enough, but for what it's worth, cigarettes, alcohol and gasoline are all taxed federally as well.
- vinay427 4y ago
  Act 60 seems like a limited tax incentive scheme. I'm referring to the general clause that income of Puerto Rican residents sourced in PR is not subject to personal income tax. From your linked source: > The U.S. tax code (Section 933) allows a bona fide resident of Puerto Rico to exclude Puerto Rico-source income from his or her U.S. gross income for U.S. tax purposes. Or there's more on the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Puerto_Rico#Federal_taxes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Puerto_Rico#Federa...
notch656a 4y ago
Interestingly American Samoa is only loosely bound to constitution / Washington. AFAIK it's the only territory/state with institutional laws that expressly protect racism and sexism. For instance, only ethnic Samoans can control most of the property, and on one island women are barred from certain leadership positions for 'cultural' reasons. And people from American Samoa, as "nationals" but not citizens, can't even vote AFTER they come to the mainland (unlike Puerto Ricans). Interestingly you rarely hear social justice warriors fighting against the racism/sexism of American Samoa nor the racism that stops them from voting on the mainland -- happening by statutory decree within US borders.

iso1631 4y ago

I don't believe people on the ISS or in Antarctica are counted as resident in those places. If you're in Paris for a month, or sailing a boat over the atlantic, as long as you live in Idaho you can vote. If you are a US citizen, born in Idaho, but moved to Paris and are officially resident in Paris, can you vote?

pstrateman 4y ago
Yes
TotempaaltJ 4y ago
Yes! https://votesfromabroad.com/ https://votesfromabroad.com/
- iso1631 4y ago
  So a US citizen born in Idaho who moves to Paris can vote, but a US citizen born in Idaho who moves to Puerto Rico can't?
  - Cyberdog 4y ago
    If they have become a citizen of PR and aren't solely there on vacation (I believe the laws that define state citizenship themselves vary state-by-state), yes, they can't vote in federal elections. There are still local and territory-wide elections they can vote in. This is silly, yes. The answer is making PR a state, but historically they haven't wanted to be one and Washington has been hesitant to make them one. Here is a short video on the matter which coincidentally was published a few days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk6JrUYLyWw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk6JrUYLyWw
    - pclmulqdq 4y ago
      Anecdotally, the elite in PR are pretty happy with the current tax arrangement and won't have a good argument for it if they push for statehood.
    - 4y ago

mlindner 4y ago

If you're a US citizen but your home residence is in Puerto Rico, then you can't vote in congressional or presidential elections from Antarctica or Low Earth Orbit either.

divbzero 4y ago

Similarly, you can vote in congressional elections from Antarctica or low Earth orbit, but not if you’re a resident of Washington DC.

oneoff786 4y ago

Although thanks to the electoral college, your vote is completely irrelevant in most states for presidential elections