Puerto Rico to Partially Redo Botched Gubernatorial Primary
Puerto Rico to Partially Redo Botched Gubernatorial Primary
(Bloomberg) -- Puerto Rico will partially redo Sunday’s key gubernatorial primary election Aug. 16 after ballots failed to arrive at some polling centers, leaving many who ventured out amid the pandemic unable to cast their vote.
Governor Wanda Vazquez, 60, who is facing a challenge from within her New Progressive Party, or PNP, said no results would be released until everyone gets an opportunity to vote.
Vazquez is facing her first election for governor after replacing Ricardo Rossello, who was ousted amid massive street protests last August. But when voters arrived at polling stations early Sunday, many found there were no ballots.
Asked if she took any responsibility for the fiasco, Vazquez told reporters that the Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections “is clearly responsible for this chaos” and had “lied” to her about being prepared for the vote.
Commission President Juan Davila blamed the problems on delays at the printing press and told WKAQ radio that he had no plans to resign.
As of late Sunday, it was unclear how many precincts will be allowed to hold a new vote Sunday.
The episode is the latest challenge for the U.S. commonwealth of 3.2 million people that has been trying to overcome an array of natural disasters, a historic bankruptcy and last summer’s political turmoil. Vazquez, a former justice secretary who originally said she didn’t want the job, was installed as governor by the commonwealth’s Supreme Court in a chaotic succession process a year ago.
Sunday’s troubles also derailed the gubernatorial primary for the the main opposition party, the Popular Democratic Party, or PPD. That race pits San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz against local legislator Eduardo Bhatia and Isabela Mayor Carlos Delgado Altieri.
Cruz, who famously clashed with President Donald Trump after Hurricane Maria, called the situation a “national embarrassment” and suggested that Vazquez and the PNP had botched the process as they try to cling to power.
Pedro Pierluisi -- Vazquez’s rival for the PNP nomination and the island’s former delegate to the U.S. House -- also blamed her for Sunday’s failed vote. Speaking at a press conference, he demanded that partial results be released in the name of transparency and said it should be up to the courts to decide how and when a new election is scheduled.
“Under my government, this would never have happened,” he said.
The delay is likely to keep the island on edge this week. Vazquez warned election officials against publishing results, but social media was abuzz with an assortment of purported tallies. Meanwhile, all the candidates are being forced to extend their campaigns for an additional week.
As the finger-pointing gained steam late Sunday, some blamed the federally-appointed oversight board that control’s the island’s finances for contributing to the chaos. In a statement, the board said that the electoral commission has a $43 million annual budget and 656 full-time employees.
“The State Elections Commission has sufficient money, and it has the more than enough staff to perform the one task it is charged with,” the board said. “Elections are the very foundation of democracy, and what the people of Puerto Rico experienced today is unacceptable.”
The flawed vote also caught Washington’s attention.
“The election problems happening today in Puerto Rico are outrageous and unprecedented,” U.S. Representative Nydia Velazquez, a New York Democrat born in Puerto Rico, wrote on Twitter. “I am monitoring this situation closely. Everyone’s right to vote must be protected.”
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