BBC News Online: World: Americas

Puerto Rico governor approves presidential vote

The governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Rossello, has signed a controversial law allowing islanders to vote in the United States presidential elections for the first time.

The measure -- which was approved by the Puerto Rican parliament on Saturday -- follows a ruling by a US federal judge that Puerto Ricans have the right to take part in the presidential ballot.

But opposition groups argue that any measure that changes the island's relationship with the US must be put to a referendum, and say they will appeal against the judge's ruling. Puerto Rico is a commonwealth territory of the United States -- a special status under which islanders are US citizens but do not vote for president unless they are resident in the United States, and have only a non-voting representative in Congress.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service