Court turns away PR congressional vote lawsuit

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from residents of Puerto Rico seeking to gain a voting representative in Congress.

The high court turned away the appeal from Gregorio Igartua and other Puerto Ricans on Monday.

Commonwealth status grants residents of Puerto Rico U.S. citizenship, but they pay no federal taxes and cannot vote in presidential elections. Their congressional representative also cannot vote in Congress.

A federal judge threw out the lawsuit, and the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision, saying that since Puerto Rico was not a state, it could not have a voting member of Congress.

The high court refused to hear the appeal.