; (36) on April 13, 2017, the Department of Justice denied certification of the plebiscite, stating: The Department has concluded that the plebiscite ballot is not compatible with these policies, as it is not drafted in a way that ensures that its result will accurately reflect the current popular will of the people of Puerto Rico. As transmitted, the ballot omits Puerto Rico's current territorial status as an available option and instead provides the people of Puerto Rico with only two choices: Statehood or Free Association/Proclamation of Independence . This omission appears to be based on a determination that the people of Puerto Rico definitively rejected Puerto Rico's current status in the plebiscite held on November 6, 2012. See Act No. 7–2017, Art. III§ 1(a). The Department does not believe that the results of the 2012 plebiscite justify omitting Puerto Rico's current status as an option on the ballot. For a variety of reasons, the validity of the 2012 plebiscite's results have been the subject of controversy and debate. See Congressional Research Service, Puerto Rico's Political Status and the 2012 Plebiscite: Background and Key Questions, at 8 (June 25, 2013) ( CRS Report ). Furthermore, nearly five years have elapsed since that plebiscite, during which significant political, economic, and demographic changes have occurred in Puerto Rico and the United States. As a result, it is uncertain that it is the present will of the people to reject Puerto Rico's current status. Accordingly, any plebiscite that now seeks to resolve Puerto Rico's future political status, as the Appropriations Act contemplates, should include the current territorial status as an option. See 2011 Task Force Report, at 26 (noting that the current status must be an available option for the people of Puerto Rico ). Otherwise, there would be real questions about the vote's legitimacy and its ability to reflect accurately the will of the people. Id. Furthermore, the Department has determined that the plebiscite ballot language contains