I don’t remember EVER seeing a news article about caucuses in Guam before. Then again, I’ve never paid much attention to Democratic primary seasons in the past – they used to be really boring, for me.

HAGATNA, Guam – With 12 out of 20 districts reporting in Democratic presidential caucuses on Guam, delegates for Barack Obama were ahead with 899 votes to 769 for those pledged to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

More than 3,000 votes were expected in heavy turnout at caucuses in the U.S. territory, where neither candidate campaigned.

Four pledged delegate votes were at stake on the island 8,000 miles from Washington. Guam also has five superdelegates and some of those are being determined in the caucus voting as well.
(snip)
U.S. citizens in Guam have no vote in the November presidential election, but the close Clinton-Obama race is giving them an unaccustomed role in the nomination process.

Both candidates have used television ads and long-distance interviews, rather than traveling to Guam to make their case. Guam will have 8 delegates at the convention, each of whom gets 1/2 vote. I guess because they’re a territory instead of a state, they don’t get a complete vote? What about the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Marianas Islands? Do they also participate in the nomination process? And if so, do they also count as less than a complete vote? I don’t remember ever hearing anything about this in my high school Civics class, but my high school Civics class was second-semester Senior year, so my attention span was at an all-time low.

So. How DO the U.S. Territories impact U.S. elections? What are their rights and privileges? Is this laid out in the Constitution, or somewhere else?

The last line of the linked article says: Hillary Clinton also has called for Guamanians to be able to vote in presidential elections. Can that be done without a Constitutional amendment? And again, what about Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Marianas Islands?