Puerto Rico was forced Sunday to suspend the right to vote for primary voters who were kicked out by a lack of ballot papers because officials called on the president of the U.S. Territorial Election Commission to resign.
The primaries for polling stations that have not received ballot papers since early afternoon are expected to be relocated, while voting would go elsewhere, the commission said.
“I have never seen on American soil anything like what was done right here in Puerto Rico. It is an embarrassment to our government and our people, “said Pedro Pierluisi, who told Gov. Wanda Vázquez is running to become the nominee for the pro-statehood New Progressive Party.
The president of that party, Thomas Rivera Schatz, together with the president of the main opposition Popular Democratic Party, held a joint press conference and said they agreed that the remaining primaries should be held on 16 August. Other politicians claimed that the entire primary would be scrapped and kept on another date.
An unbelievable Treasurer noted that there were still trucks with ballot papers parked inside at the commission’s headquarters when they spoke there.
“The question is, why are they not gone?” he said.
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An official turns two voters away at a polling station in Carolina, Puerto Rico, on Sunday, August 9, 2020. Puerto Rico’s primary was destroyed on Sunday by a shortage of ballot papers in a majority of centers across U.S. territory, causing frustration voters who braved a spike in COVID-19 cases were forced to turn around and go home.
(AP)
Hundreds of frustrated voters who wore the required face masks and brought a spike in COVID-19 cases were turned away from centers in Puerto Rico because officials told them no ballots were available.
The situation angered voters and politicians of all constituencies as they accused the Puerto Rican Electoral Commission and demanded a statement for votes that reached only a handful of polling stations by noon.
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“This is embarrassing, abusive and an attempt against the democracy of our country,” said Marcos Cruz, mayor of the northern city of Vega Baja who was still waiting for votes.
Meanwhile, officials from the island’s two main parties scrambled to find solutions as they urged voters to still look in centers that remained open.
Yadira Pizarro, a 44-year-old teacher, ran out of patience at a closed polling station in Carolina, where she had waited more than four hours under a blazing sun.
“I can not believe this. This is some serious negligence,” she said.
An election official, right, tells a voter that the ballots did not arrive at a polling station in Carolina, Puerto Rico, on Sunday, August 9, 2020. Puerto Rico’s primary was destroyed on Sunday due to a lack of voting in a majority of centers across the U.S. territory, forcing frustrated voters who braved a spike in COVID-19 cases to turn around and return home.
(AP)
One of the most-attended races on Sunday is that of the pro-statehood Progressive New Party, which pitched two candidates who served as replacement leaders after last year’s political unrest. Vázquez vs. Pierluisi, who represented Puerto Rico in Congress from 2009 to 2017. Pierluisi served briefly as governor after Gov. Ricardo Rosselló resigned in August 2019 after widespread street protests over a ruthless conversation that was leaked and corruption of government. But the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ruled that Vázquez, then the secretary of justice, was constitutionally next to the rule because there was no secretary of state.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Popular Democratic Party, which supports Puerto Rico’s current political status as American territory, is holding a primary for the first time in its 82-year history. Three people are fighting to become governor – San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, known for her public talks with US President Donald Trump after the devastation of Hurricane Maria; Puerto Rico Sen. Eduardo Bhatia; and Carlos Delgado, Mayor of the Northwest Coast City of Isabela.
The winning nominees from both parties will be among six general candidates in the November general election.
