Edgardo Cruz gains a judicial victory in his fight for mayor of Guánica

The San Juan Court of First Instance said today, Wednesday, the request to revoke the Democratic People’s Party (PPD) and the State Electoral Commission (EEC) in the process presented by the candidate for direct nomination for mayor of Guánica, Edgardo Cruz.

Cruz appealed in court to challenge the decision of the President of the EEC, Francisco Rosado Colomer, in which he did not grant the votes cast by direct nomination in his favor, because the voter did not mark the rectangle with an X on the ballot of the box corresponding to the direct nomination.

“This court declares that the dismissal proposals submitted are not in force. Accordingly, the appeal for judicial review is declared presented by Mr. Edgardo Cruz Vélez ”, says the sentence issued by Judge Anthony Cuevas.

The judge argued that although voters who voted by nomination did not mark the rectangle, “Voting by direct nomination differs from other types of voting, because it requires, for its issuance, the voter to write the name of a person who is not a candidate.”

“The essence of this type of vote is the name of the nominee, so its validity cannot be conditioned by the fact that it has a mark next to it”, the judge emphasizes.

This court ruling implies that the EEC, when there is only one day left until the end of the year and without the general control having been completed, will have to review the files with electoral material from the Guánica primary race in order to find the votes it has cast. Cruz answered.

At the time, the EEC had set up the PPD candidate, Ismael “Titi” Rodríguez Ramos, as the winner with only 24 votes ahead.