Puerto Ricans on Mainland Consider Role in Deciding Future of Island : Plebiscite: Even some who were not born there think they have a right to vote on a choice among independence, statehood, or commonwealth status.

Yvette Hernandez never votes--not for mayor of New York, not for Congress, not even for President. But if Puerto Rico’s future comes to a vote, she’s ready to head for the nearest polling place.

“Why shouldn’t I vote? I’m Puerto Rican,” she declared.

That this furniture saleswoman has lived in New York for 17 years matters little. She was born in Puerto Rico, and if the island is to decide its future--independence, statehood, or no change--she wants a say.

She is not alone. Even as Congress debates when and if to hold a plebiscite, a parallel debate is going on in and out of the mainland Puerto Rican community: Should Puerto Ricans who left the island--and even the descendants of those emigrants--have a vote in its destiny?

“We think of ourselves as one nation and Puerto Rico is never out of mind for us. And that’s a fact,” explains Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.).

Serrano, himself Puerto Rican-born, has proposed an amendment to the plebiscite legislation that would extend the vote to anyone born in Puerto Rico or with at least one parent born on the island.

The proposal is unprecedented, according to Columbia University law professor Henry P. Monaghan.

“There is no case in which there have been people who are not living in a territory who are enfranchised,” he said.

The idea of 2.5 million people on the mainland taking part in the plebiscite doesn’t sit well with everyone, especially Sergio Pena Clos, a member of the island’s Senate.

“They’ve left the island. They’ve abandoned the island and now they want to vote?” said Pena Clos. “They’ll be affecting my destiny, the island’s destiny and the destiny of my descendants.”

Serrano’s reply: “This is not an election for public office. This is an election on status--political status--and that decision belongs to all the Puerto Rican people.”

Serrano’s words echo on the streets of East Harlem, home to many of New York’s 1 million Puerto Ricans.

“This is something that is a big decision. This is not like an election that takes place every four years,” said Carlos de Jesus, the New York-born son of a woman from Puerto Rico. “Because, depending on the outcome of that vote, many people here might just want to go back to Puerto Rico.”

His wife, Carmen, also born in New York, wants to vote.

“No matter where in the world they are now, they should be allowed to vote. It’s our right and no one has the right to take that away,” she said.

Puerto Rico, in fact, has not been independent since it was conquered by Ponce de Leon for Spain in 1509. The island remained a Spanish colony until the Spanish-American War of 1898, when it became a U.S. territory.

Puerto Rico became a U.S. commonwealth in 1952, exposing its people to a dizzying array of contradictory rights and proscriptions.

Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and are eligible for military service, but cannot vote for President. They elect their own governor and Legislature, but their representative to Congress has no vote there. Federal law applies to the island, but Puerto Ricans pay no federal taxes.

In a 1967 non-binding referendum, 60% of Puerto Ricans said they wanted to retain commonwealth status while 39% wanted statehood. But recent polls indicate that a slim majority favors statehood.

It is not clear that they will have an opportunity to vote in the near future. President Bush, who strongly backs statehood for Puerto Rico, has urged Congress to pass plebiscite legislation mandating that whatever is decided by the voters be implemented by 1993.

In a letter to the House subcommittee considering the bill, Bush wrote: “How can we applaud the exciting and momentous movements toward freedom in Eastern Europe, Latin America and elsewhere while refusing to grant to our own citizens the right to self-determination?”

But the chances of passing such a bill in 1990 appear slim. Action on the House version has been delayed by the illness of Delegate Ron de Lugo (D-Virgin Islands), chairman of the Interior subcommittee on insular and international affairs.

The bill’s Senate counterpart, which has been approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee, still must be considered by the Finance, Agriculture and Judiciary committees before it can go to the full body. And, because it’s an election year, Congress is hoping to adjourn earlier than usual.

Still, the debate about who would vote continues, off the island and on.

Rafael Hernandez Colon, Puerto Rico’s governor and leader of the pro-commonwealth Popular Democratic Party, has said he favors allowing first-generation Puerto Ricans living in the United States to vote in the plebiscite but believes most island residents oppose the idea.

And former Gov. Carlos Romero Barcelo, of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, said any effort to determine who would be eligible to vote would be a “logistical nightmare.”

Pena Clos noted that Puerto Rico has about 3.5 million people, about 2.1 million of whom are eligible to vote.