Puerto Ricans voted to support U.S. statehood on Tuesday but the island remains divided in the decision and their relationship with the United States: nearly a half million voters chose to leave a portion of the ballot blank, according to The Huffington Post. 

"Statehood won a victory without precedent but it's an artificial victory," the Post quoted Angel Israel Rivera Ortiz, a political science professor at the University of Puerto Rico. "It reflects a divided and confused electorate that is not clear on where it's going." 

The two-part ballot that first asked all voters if they favor Puerto Rico's current status as a U.S. territory. Then, in the second question, all voters had the opportunity to choose which they prefer: statehood, independence or "sovereign free association." The latter would grant more autonomy to the island.

The ballot results as follows:

More than 900,000 voters (54 percent) responded "No" to the first question, meaning that they are not content with the current status of Puerto Rico. 

However, on the second question, only about 1.3 million voters made a choice. Of those, nearly 61 percent chose statehood. It marks the first time in 45 years that more Puerto Ricans favored being a U.S. state than maintaining their status as a U.S. Commonwealth, according to US News. Approximately 437,000 voted for sovereign free association and 72,560 chose independence. Nearly 500,000, however, left that question blank.

Puerto Rico is presently defined as a U.S. territory, meaning the people who live there are citizens of the United States, but they cannot vote in presidential elections and their congressional representative has limited powers.

US News added that Article Four of the Constitution states that Congress can admit new states into the union after  receiving majority votes in both houses of Congress and a Presidential signature.  

Tags: Puerto Rico