Puerto Rico on Sunday partially withdrew primary voting on a shortage of ballot papers, according to officials.
The Electoral Commission said primaries for polling stations that had not received ballot papers by early afternoon were expected to be re-cast, while voting would go elsewhere, The Associated Press reported.
Voters who appeared in required face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic were turned away from polling stations in Puerto Rico and told no ballots were available, the newswire reported.
Gov. Wanda Vázquez, who is running for re-election as part of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, said the situation was “totally unacceptable and outrageous.”
“What happened today by the State Election Commission is unusual and there is no excuse that it can support it,” she tweeted, according to the English translation of the platform of her post.
“This matter must be addressed immediately and the alternatives analyzed, so that the constitutional right of all voters of the areas who have not yet left the truck is absolutely guaranteed, so that they can exercise their voice in the law-primaries,” she added.
This is totally unacceptable and outrageous! It is not uncommon for the day to be high on the part of the State Election Commission, which is precedent-setting and does not excuse anyone who can support it.
Wanda Vázquez Garced @wandavazquezg August 9, 2020
Pedro Pierluisi
Pedro Rafael Pierluisi There is only one candidate for Democrats in Puerto Rico Trump rules Puerto Rico feud amid Hurricane Dorian The Hill’s Morning Report – Trump promises federal response to shootings in Ohio, Texas MAY, who opposes the governor in the primary, tweeted that he is “totally opposed to the paralysis of the voting process in this primary.”
‘Today, the entire electoral system has been violated, hundreds of thousands of voters have been prevented from exercising their right to vote. This is a shame for Puerto Rico. We will guarantee the vote for all Puerto Ricans, “he said in a separate tweet, according to the translation of the platform.
Hoy se ha volddadich todo el sistema verkiezings, se le ha impedido a xientos de miles de votantes eigner su derecho al voto. This is a bochorno for Puerto Rico. Let’s guarantee the vote to all the poorest. And conference de prensa aquí: https://t.co/QOlAIXvL5k
Pedro R. Pierluisi @pedropierluisi August 9, 2020
The president of the party of the governor, Thomas Rivera Schatz, and the president of the main opposition Popular Democratic Party held a joint press conference, announcing that they agreed that the remaining primaries should be held on 16 August, reported the AP.
Vázquez said she supported the move, according to the newswire.
Schatz said there were still trucks with moods parked inside at the commission’s headquarters when they spoke at the press conference.
“The question is, why are they not gone?” he said, according to AP.
A spokeswoman for the commission told the AP that officials were not immediately available for comment.
A federal supervisory board overseeing Puerto Rico’s finances issued a statement accusing the “dysfunctional” voting process of inefficiency by the Electoral Commission.
“The Oversight Board is deeply concerned about the dysfunctional voting process in the current primary elections in Puerto Rico,” the Financial Board of Supervision and Management for Puerto Rico said in a statement. “Elections are the foundation of democracy, and what the people of Puerto Rico are experiencing today is unacceptable.”
The two gubernatorial candidates for the New Progressive Party both served as replacements for former Govt. Ricardo Rosselló, who resigned last year. Vásquez was sworn in last year after a court overturned Pierluisi’s appointment.
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