[dragonwriter]

None of the referenda have been binding referenda (which Congress could provide for, but has not) and most of them except the 2012 two-stage one have been structured, (often at the direction or request of the US federal government) to avoid a clear win for any option other than status quo (including the 2017 one, which had an additional option added at the request of the Trump administration to split voters opposed to the current status.)

Of course, the 2017 referendum was only held at all because the Statehood won by the terms of the 2012 referendum, and the federal government ignored it and the requests by the elected bodies of the government of Puerto Rico to abide by it.

The idea that Puerto Rico is not a state because the people of Puerto Rico have not availed themselves of the opportunity to choose to become one is false.