Everything ready to begin the electoral counting in Puerto Rico

(CNN Spanish) – The State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico (CEEPR) reported that the scrutiny will begin this Tuesday…

(CNN Spanish) – The State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico (CEEPR) reported that the general counting of votes for the general elections will begin this Tuesday.

The elections on the island were held on November 5 and the CEEPR gave the preliminary results with which the winners were proclaimed for the positions of governor, resident police station in Washington, legislative and municipal assemblies.

Two special votes were also held. One for the positions of president and vice president of the United States. Another a plebiscitary consultation for voters to choose which status they prefer among the alternatives of sovereignty in free association with the United States, statehood or independence. Both votes are invalid because they do not have the endorsement of the United States Congress.

According to the procedures manual, “the scrutiny of the minutes will consist of validating the result of the night of the event against the College Scrutiny Record, making adjustments to it due to votes by direct nomination that are allocable to candidates (manual scrutiny) and voted ballots. that were not deposited in the electronic counting machine at the school during the voting process.”

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The process proceeds immediately after CEEPR receives all ballots and voting materials. Once finished, the official certifications and results of the elections will be given. The official date of when the general scrutiny will be completed has not been reported.

The CEEPR announced that the scrutiny process will be directed by engineer Edwin Velázquez, after the body’s plenary session approved his appointment.

“With the director of scrutiny already in place, and this being a person with experience in electoral matters for whom this process is not unknown, we are on track and ready to begin this stage of the work that will result in the official certification of the candidates elected in the last election on Tuesday,” said Jessika D. Padilla Rivera, alternate president of the CEEPR, in written statements.

Preliminary Results

Jenniffer González, of the New Progressive Party (PNP), was the winning candidate in the gubernatorial elections in Puerto Rico, while the pro-independence Juan Dalmau came in second place, according to preliminary results.

According to the CEEPR, with more than 91.5% of the electoral colleges reported, González, who serves as resident commissioner in the United States House of Representatives in Washington, achieved 39.45%, up from 32, 7% of Dalmau.

It is the first time that the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) comes in second position in a general election. In 2020, Dalmau obtained fourth place with 13.58%, according to official data from the CEEPR. This time the Puerto Rican Independence Party made an alliance with the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC).

Jenniffer González is the third woman to become governor in Puerto Rico. The first was Sila María Calderón (2001-2005) who won the 2000 elections with the Popular Democratic Party.

Wanda Vázquez was the second female governor, but she was not elected by the island’s voters. Vázquez held the position from August 2019 to January 2021. He became governor after the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló in 2019. At that time, Vázquez was the secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Justice and by order of succession replaced Rosselló .

Although it had no legal validity, citizens residing in Puerto Rico voted in these general elections for the candidates for the presidency and vice presidency of the United States.

Residents of the island do not have the right to vote for the president of the United States because Puerto Rico is a territory and not a state of the nation.

The CEEPR released preliminary results this Wednesday with 91.35% of the schools reported, with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris emerging as the winner, with 73.46% in favor (709,902 votes). Meanwhile, the Republican candidate Donald Trump obtained 26.54% (256,505 votes). The CEEPR has not released results for the vice presidency of the United States or any independent candidate.

The CEEPR reported that, preliminarily, Statehood obtained a majority with 56.8% in favor (528,379 votes), followed by Independence with 30.85% (286,923 votes) and in third place Sovereignty in Free Association with the United States with 12.33% (114,676 votes).