In 1917, statutory U.S. citizenship was extended to most Puerto Ricans, although the law could be repealed by a future United States Congress.

[4] This referendum follows a period of political upheaval in Puerto Rico, where an economic crisis and damage from a series of hurricanes contributed to protests that brought about the resignation of previous Governor Ricardo Rosselló in July 2019.

The two-party referendum in 2012 saw a majority vote in favour of a change in the status quo and for statehood, but the way the ballot was introduced created doubt in Congress.

[10] Analysts have suggested the referendum was called to drive turnout for Vázquez and her PNP party in the election, shifting attention away from the difficulties Puerto Rico had faced in the recent past.

[8][11][12] Under a 2014 law, the Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections (CEE) receives $2.5 million from the federal government for any referendum approved by the Justice Department on the topic of the territory's status.

[16] On August 16, Vázquez lost her party's primary to Pedro Pierluisi, who thus became the PNP candidate for Governor.

[17] The referendum asked one yes-or-no question:[13] "¿Debe Puerto Rico ser admitido inmediatamente dentro de la Unión como un Estado?"

[18] On July 28, Jenniffer González, a Republican who serves as the non-voting representative of Puerto Rico in Congress,[19] spoke to the United States House Administration Subcommittee on Elections and reiterated her previous support for statehood.

[27] On July 30, former President Barack Obama called for citizens in Puerto Rico and D.C. to have "equal representation in our government".

If Puerto Rico became a state, it would be expected to have two senators, four House representatives, and six electoral college votes.

Disregarding the November 2020 vote, the Senate bill called for the introduction of a "Status Convention" that would have given a path for the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico to elect delegates to a special assembly to formulate a ballot with non-territorial status options which was to be presented to the people of Puerto Rico to vote on.

Regardless of the vote, the convention was to work with a special joint congress committee in which they would have appointed members that come from the states with the biggest Puerto Rican populations to "determine the path to decolonization".

It would institute a binding referendum that would allow Puerto Ricans to vote on the future status of the island, that Congress would have to obey.