system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: If Puerto Rico votes to become a state, how would/could the US proceed?
gpt
Legally speaking, voting to become a state is irrelevant.  It is a signal that a territory is ready to become a state, but congress is under no obligation to act upon it.  Similarly, congress could make PR a state even if it voted against it.

The power rests solely in congress, any vote in the PR is purely symbolic.