SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A non-binding referendum on the nature of Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States was too close to call early Tuesday.

Exit polls on the issue showed a 48 percent tie between those who favor modifying the current commonwealth model and those who prefer to maintain the present arrangement.Preliminary results on a second referendum question, which includes three options, show that 50 percent favor U.S. statehood, 32 percent support an enhanced commonwealth status and 4 percent want independence for the island, while the remaining 14 percent of those surveyed said they had left this issue blank on their ballots.

Officially, the Caribbean island of 4 million people is the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a semi-autonomous extension of the U.S. mainland, its giant neighbor 1,000 miles to the northwest.

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