Editing Politics of Guam (section)

== Past referendums on political status ==

=== January 1982 status referendum ===
{{Main|January 1982 Guamanian status referendum}}
In January 1982, a referendum on Guam's status was held, with a 49.49% plurality of voters favoring [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|commonwealth]] status, with 25.65% favoring [[Statehood movement in Guam|statehood]], the second most popular option. 10.19% said they supported the status quo, while 5.40% supported U.S. [[Territories of the United States|incorporated territory]] status. 3.9% of voters favored a [[Associated state|free association]] agreement with the U.S., while independence was the least popular option, garnering 3.82% support.

=== September 1982 status referendum ===
{{Main|September 1982 Guamanian status referendum}}
A second referendum with the two most popular options in the original vote ([[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|commonwealth]] status and [[Statehood movement in Guam|statehood]]) was held in September 1982. By a 72.82% to 27.18% margin, Guamanians voted in favor of commonwealth status over statehood. However, Guam has not received commonwealth status, and remains an [[Territories of the United States|unincorporated territory]].

=== Future referendums ===
In 2000, the Guam Legislature authorized the creation of a non-binding vote to allow [[Chamorro people|native inhabitants of Guam]] to cast their votes in favor of statehood, a free association agreement, or outright independence from the United States. In 2017, Chief Judge [[Frances Tydingco-Gatewood]] declared the proposal unconstitutional under the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|15th Amendment]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Limtiaco |first=Steve |date=2023-03-08 |title=Guam back to the drawing board on political status vote |url=https://www.guampdn.com/news/guam-back-to-the-drawing-board-on-political-status-vote/article_93e3988c-bd70-11ed-bdcd-6b19647a4c19.html |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=guampdn.com |language=en}}</ref>