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On Monday, Rep. José “Conny” Varela Fernández, who leads the House Electoral Affairs Committee, vocally criticized the reported issues with the interpretation of voters’ marks on ballots. This situation prompted, just under two days prior to the general elections, a directive from the State Elections Commission (SEC) urging voters to alter the way they mark their ballots.
“Following the issues faced during the transmission of primary results in June, I called upon the SEC’s alternate chairperson, Jessika Padilla Rivera, to several public hearings to clarify how she intended to ensure the accuracy of the electronic counting machines on election day. Padilla Rivera consistently reassured me that the technical difficulties had been resolved and that the results would be reliable,” Varela stated. “Now, with the counting of early votes already underway and less than 48 hours remaining before the polls open, it appears that the electronic counting machines are failing to detect the intended marks. The SEC abruptly wants to change how ballots are marked. This exemplifies gross incompetence on the part of both the SEC and Dominion, creating a highly troubling scenario for the electoral process in this country.”
On Monday, Padilla Rivera reiterated her call for voters to completely darken the boxes when casting their vote to ensure that the optical counting machines accurately interpret the voter’s choice.
On Sunday afternoon, it came to light that several electronic vote counting machines were failing to properly detect the marks on early-voting ballots, prompting the SEC’s alternate chairwoman to advise voters to fully fill in the boxes intended for their marks rather than using an X.
“This sudden adjustment could lead to significant confusion among voters, who have consistently been instructed to vote by placing crosses in the designated area,” remarked the District 32 (Caguas) representative and deputy House speaker. “We cannot take for granted that, with such a brief notice, all voters will obtain the essential information indicating that they are now required to fill the entire space. If they fail to do so, we risk ending up with a preliminary certification on election night that does not reflect the actual outcomes, leading to doubts and concerns.”
“The agreement between the SEC and Dominion stipulates that the electronic counting machines must be capable of reading a mark as small as one square millimeter,” Varela continued. “To put it simply, if you take the cap off the marker provided by the SEC, the width of the mark it creates should measure one millimeter. That should suffice for the voter to make the cross that has always been known. If the machines cannot recognize those crosses, they would be in violation of both the contract and the certifications mandated by the HAVA law [Help America Vote Act]. If this issue persists on the day of the general election, Dominion ought to refund all payments made to them this year for the use of the machines during this election.”
