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Conflicts among different political parties persisted on Monday, the day prior to when millions of voters are anticipated to select a new governor, mayors, and a fresh Legislature.
Judge Raúl Candelario from San Juan favored the New Progressive Party (NPP) by mandating the continuation of early voting ballot counting. He stated that any political party without representatives present during the counting would forfeit its right to monitor the votes.
This decision emerged after NPP gubernatorial candidate Jenniffer González Colón’s campaign manager, Francisco Domenech, along with NPP electoral commissioner Aníbal Vega Borges and other NPP officials, accused minority parties of hindering the early voting ballot counting process.
Ángel Cintrón, the political director for González Colón’s campaign, asserted on the radio that minority parties had abandoned the counting tables the previous night.
Domenech emphasized that the NPP is the sole party dedicated to protecting the votes of all Puerto Ricans, mentioning that approximately 300 lawyers would volunteer to supervise the votes today.
Additionally, Domenech criticized the alternate chairwoman of the State Elections Commission (SEC) for allegedly siding with minority parties by not adhering to the law that mandates the majority party operate the counting machines as per the last election’s results.
Most surveys indicate that González Colón is expected to lead in today’s gubernatorial election, while Juan Dalmau Ramírez, representing the alliance between the Citizen Victory Movement and the Puerto Rican Independence Party, is projected to secure second place. Notably, this election marks the first occasion in Popular Democratic Party history where its gubernatorial candidate — Rep. Jesús Manuel Ortiz González — is predicted to end up in third place.
Hoping for a last-minute change, Ortiz urged voters on Sunday “not to be fooled by the trick.”
“Don’t take the bait they’re trying to give you,” Ortiz stated at his campaign finale in Mayagüez during his Virazón Popular caravan. “This coming Tuesday, with the nearly 100,000 early votes already in our favor, grant me the trust to steer the government agenda that prioritizes your needs.”
“We’re heading to the streets next Tuesday; we’re going to the polls to showcase the strength of this popular party. We will vote, vote, vote, and we will triumph,” he added.
