Voters across the U.S. just cast their votes for the president and members of a new Congress. In many states, voters also elected local officials, ranging from governors and state legislators to mayors and municipal executives. Puerto Rico held its local election as well, electing pro-statehood Congresswoman Jenniffer González-Colón as its new governor. But the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico cast our votes in another election: we voted for the very first time ever for the president of the United States. The Puerto Rico vote did not appear in any Electoral College map shown by the major networks. Nor were the results added to the national vote tally. Even though we knew it was non-binding, more than 1.4 million voters in Puerto Rico went to the polls to make their preference known. Kamala Harris dominated Donald Trump with more than 73% of the vote, winning every single electoral precinct across the island. However, it is important to note that a significant number of Puerto Ricans living in the states ended up voting for Trump. So why does a non-binding election in Puerto Rico matter? For starters, it highlights the painful truth Puerto Ricans live with every four years: we are U.S. citizens, we pay Social Security, Medicare, and federal unemployment taxes, but we do not get a chance to choose the people who draft, enact, and enforce the laws that affect us. We see our friends and family members in states like New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania vote and assert real political power, but we cannot do the same while living on the island. We know that the commander in chief we did not vote for could send our sons and daughters to war. We see members of Congress of Puerto Rican descent have more influence on local affairs in Puerto Rico than the officials we vote to represent us. We are reminded that Puerto Rico can only conduct a symbolic vote because in the second decade of the 21st century the island remains the oldest colony in the world. Yet, while the Harris campaign knew how important of a priority the status question is for Puerto Rican voters, they never fully embraced the topic nor did they make it a central part of their messaging. Despite including favorable language in the DNC’s party platform, absent a clear commitment towards addressing Puerto Rican’s lack of voting rights and equal representation in the federal government, voters just didn’t show up this time around. To add insult to injury, the fact that Reps. Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez publicly endorsed a slate of candidates in Puerto Rico that are pro-independence, anti-American, and collaborators of socialist government regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela alarmed and agitated thousands of Puerto Rican voters and pushed them away in droves. In addition to the presidential ballot question, Puerto Rican voters once again chose statehood on Nov. 5. This isn’t the first time Puerto Ricans have expressed their desire for statehood. Similar votes in 2012, 2017, and 2020 indicated a consistent push for full admission as a state. But this time, with a decisive majority in favor, Puerto Ricans have issued an unambiguous message that Washington can no longer afford to ignore. In a head-to-head contest, statehood won out over independence and free association, cementing a clear preference among Puerto Ricans for integration into the United States rather than separation from it. The plebiscite’s ballot definitions matched those outlined in the Puerto Rico Status Act, which passed the House of Representatives under bill HR 8393. This bipartisan effort led by Puerto Rican lawmakers in the U.S. Congress, represented a groundbreaking collaboration. Together, they bridged political divides to introduce the clearest path yet for Puerto Rico’s status resolution, ensuring voters had well-defined options: statehood, independence, or free association. Their combined effort underscores that Puerto Rico’s future should not be defined by partisan interests but by the island’s democratic will. With this vote, Puerto Rico has taken a bold stance, demanding equal representation and the rights that come with statehood. It will be tempting to treat the non-binding vote as a one-off quirk. I urge you to look at it as a call to action. Puerto Rico’s exclusion from the federal electoral process is an affront to the democratic values our great nation holds dear. The time to act is now. Some say, “if you don’t have a seat on the table, you are probably on the menu.” Puerto Ricans need to have their seat at the table once and for all. Dávila-Pernas is chairman of the Puerto Rico Democratic Party.