SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico primaries were wounded Sunday by a lack of ballot papers in a majority of centers across U.S. territory, forcing frustrated voters who braved a spike in COVID-19 cases to turn around and to go home.
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.
“This has been a gross administrative incompetence by the president of the Electoral Commission who should not be in that position,” said Aníbal José Torres, chairman of the main opposition Popular Democratic Party.
He, along with Thomas Rivera Schatz, president of the governor’s Progressive New Party, called on the commission on August 16 to hold a partial primary for polling stations that did not get their vote.
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.
The Electoral Commission has not yet made a formal announcement.
Meanwhile, officials from both parties scrambled to find solutions as they urged voters outside the metropolitan area to wait until noon to visit polling stations, even though lines had already been formed across the island early on. Voters wore face masks and some stood in sweaty shirts, but hundreds of them gave up and walked away.
“Please come back,” Puerto Rico Sen. Eduardo Bhatia, who is trying to be the gubernatorial nominee for the Popular Democratic Party.
“Persevere,” said Pedro Pierluisi, who opposed Gov. Wanda Vázquez is running, to be nominated for the pro-statehood New Progressive Party. “What matters is that voters uphold their rights.”
The Electoral Commission announced that it would keep all affected polling stations open later than planned to guarantee a full eight hours of access as required. But many who stood in line early Sunday were not expected by seniors to return to polling stations once they opened.
Yadira Pizarro, a 44-year-old teacher, ran out of patience at a closed polling station in Carolina, where she had been waiting for four hours.
“I can not believe this. This is some bad negligence,” she said. “I’m leaving and I will not return.”
She was one of more than 200 voters where election official Griselle Hernández apologized when she explained that the ballots were now expected in the early afternoon.
While almost all voters were behind to hear that the vote was yet to come, Alfredo Pérez, a 64-year-old pensioner, remained seated.
‘I came here at 6:30. If I have to stay here until 5 o’clock, I will, ‘he said.
Gireliz Zambrana, a 31-year-old federal employee who typically stood in a center in the northern coastal city of Río Grande, said half of the roughly 20 people waiting to learn about the center would not open on time and said they would not come back.
He said he would usually stay as long as necessary because the situation in Puerto Rico had to change. The island is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria and a series of strong earthquakes amid a pandemic and a 13-year economic recession.
“We need help,” he said. “Puerto Rico can no longer take it.”
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 represents 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 lousy conversation that was leaked and government corruption. 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.
