With the November general elections already visible on the horizon, the recent denunciations of all the electoral commissioners about the delay in which the State Elections Commission (CEE) continues with respect to several key procedures for the celebration of the very important electoral event of next November 5 are extremely worrisome.
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Lee este artículo en español.
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The complaints, moreover, have been underpinned by a report published by this newspaper this weekend about the serious deficiencies in the process documented by international observers who came in June to witness the primaries of the New Progressive Party (PNP) and Popular Democratic Party (PPD), which included problems, among others, in such serious issues as the secrecy of the vote.
With the calendar inexorably approaching the constitutionally mandated general voting date, there is no time left to continue to cloud the indispensable public confidence in the electoral system. We urge the alternate president of the CEE, Judge Jessika Padilla Rivera, and the commissioners of the five parties represented in the body, to suspend mutual recriminations and to strive without further delay or justification to prepare the system for the very important November commitment.
The PNP and PPD commissioners, as well as the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), Citizen Victory and Proyecto Dignidad, told this newspaper that the CEE is behind in crucial processes such as the handling of early and absentee voting, for which there are already tens of thousands of applications; the approval of the ballot model, manuals and regulations and controversies that are under Padilla Rivera’s attention.
In recent days, as well, citizens have reported multiple difficulties to register and even to modify or update their information in the Electronic Voters Registry (eRE), in part, it has been reported, due to power supply problems that, like much of the rest of Puerto Rico, face some facilities of the CEE.
In the case of the different modalities of absentee voting, which in 2020 caused multiple problems, the situation is especially worrisome because, without the approval of the regulations to handle such a critical aspect of the race, candidates have been seen processing applications.
Judge Padilla Rivera has responded to the complaints in basically two ways: either denying that problems exist or blaming the election commissioners for any problems that may exist. We believe that her attitude is not positive. While the election commissioners play a crucial role in the system and are not entirely exempt from the cause of many of the problems, the primary responsibility for keeping the process on schedule and ensuring that disputes are resolved promptly and in accordance with the law lies with the CEE president.
Nothing today points to the possibility of massive fraud in November. But the accumulation of all these situations, added to others that need not be reiterated, has a detrimental effect on the confidence that the country needs to have that its electoral system works and will reflect with millimeter precision its will on election day.
Judge Padilla Rivera and the commissioners have the inescapable patriotic, civic, and even human duty to work together towards the celebration of an electoral event that is proof against doubts to provide Puerto Ricans with the invaluable peace that comes from knowing that the vote, the sacred vote, which is the core of all democracy, will be in good hands when it is cast.
We have seen very close to here what can happen when there is no confidence in the outcome of an election. Puerto Rico has never deserved anything less than total and absolute confidence in its electoral process.
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This content was translated from Spanish to English using artificial intelligence and was reviewed by an editor before being published.
