Court: Non-native Guam residents can vote on status with U.S.

Hagatna, Guam (AP) — Non-native residents of Guam should have a say about the territory’s future relationship with the United States, a U.S. appeals court ruled.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2017 ruling that said it’s unconstitutional to limit an advisory vote to those who are considered native inhabitants of the island.

The U.S. territory’s non-binding election would have given native Chamorro residents three choices: independence, statehood and free association with the United States.

The free association option would be similar to island states that allow the U.S. exclusive military access to their land and waters while their citizens have the right to live and work in the U.S.

The territory’s leaders would then present the results of the election to the president, Congress and the United Nations.

Arnold Davis, a non-Chamorro resident, sued in 2011 after his application to participate in the vote was denied.

Three judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who issued their ruling Monday, were at the University of Hawaii’s law school in October to listen to arguments in the appeal.

The 2017 ruling concluded that even though Guam has a long history of colonization and its people have a right to determine their political status with the United States, it’s unconstitutional to exclude voters simply because they “do not have the correct ancestry or bloodline.”

The ruling cites a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows non-Native Hawaiians to vote in elections for Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees.

The vote in Guam would only be a “symbolic, but no less sacred, non-binding expression of a political opinion of a subset of Guam,” Julian Aguon, an attorney representing the territory, argued last year.